Queen of the Mythical World
by FablehavenFan
Summary: A severe mistake throws Kendra's standing among the fairies completely off course. To make matters worse, a powerful dragoness is looking to finally conquer the mortal world. Story 10 of a 10-part series.
1. Bonds

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fablehaven. It is the creation of Brandon Mull.**

 **A/N: This story is the tenth entry in a ten-story series, and is a follow-up to "Utopia of the Usurper Unicorn". Please make sure to read the previous nine stories before starting this one! Thank you and enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Bonds**

As the exhilarating wind brushed against his face whilst flying against it at a high speed, Seth Sorenson tightened the already firm grip that he had upon Skyfrost's scaly shoulders.

The sky-blue wyvern was in the midst of flying among the rotund cumulonimbus clouds that were drifting across the sky, high above the acres upon acres of forest that made up the Fablehaven preserve. As though it had become some sort of mandatory ritual, Seth made sure that as long as he had enough time to spare, that he and Skyfrost would go out for a flight at least once a day.

On most other days, Seth would regularly have found himself accompanied by Kendra, Ingrid and Warren, who typically all rode upon Raxtus, Geminus and Firesquall respectively. However, today was different; Kendra and Warren were not with them. Kendra had declined the offer to join them, while Warren stated that he was too busy with other things he had to do.

As Skyfrost came barreling through and out of a cloud, Seth was able to see the vast sky that lay before him. However, what really caught his attention was Ingrid, who was riding atop Firesquall.

Although Ingrid normally rode upon Geminus, it was Firesquall himself who pleaded to come along. The green wyvern and his twin brother were, at times, nearly inseparable. Not wanting him to feel left out, Geminus suggested that Ingrid should ride upon Firesquall, so that she too could spend some time with Seth.

"This is awesome!" shouted Ingrid, immediately after Firesquall had finished performing a loop-de-loop.

Seth grinned at Ingrid and laughed. "The way you say it, you make it sound like Geminus is some sort of amateur! "

"No disrespect to her or anything," said Ingrid, as Firesquall flew up alongside Skyfrost, "but Firesquall here is a flying ace!"

"We're wyverns," said Firesquall. "We practically _exist_ to fly!"

"You've flown on us the odd time before," said Skyfrost. "How come you're just realizing this _now_?"

"Yeah, but those times weren't for pleasure," said Ingrid. "But today... it was like a whole new experience!"

"You really like Firesquall, don't you?" asked Skyfrost.

Ingrid smiled, then patted Firesquall upon the back of his head, near the base of one of his horns. "He's certainly something else."

"Why don't you go talk to Warren?" asked Seth. "Maybe he and you can trade dragons."

"NO WAY!" blurted Firesquall, as smoke came fuming out of his nostrils. He turned his head towards Seth and glared at him.

"Take it easy, Firesquall," said Seth, holding up a hand.

"Sorry," said Firesquall, having lowered his voice. "But Warren and I... We're kinda close."

"I get you completely," said Ingrid. "I would never want to abandon Geminus. This whole proposition was Seth's idea anyway!"

"Well, I'm just having such a good time right now," said Seth. "Geminus can't quite keep up with the wyverns, and now that Ingrid is with us..."

Skyfrost and Firesquall both looked at each other, then turned their heads to look up at Seth and Ingrid. "What **about** Ingrid?" asked the wyverns, speaking in unison.

"I know what they're talking about," said Ingrid, smiling in Seth's direction.

"I... uh... wanted to show off something for Ingrid," uttered Seth, speaking in a way that he knew came off as trying to change the subject. "Come on, Skyfrost! Let's show her just how much faith I have in you! Remember what I told you earlier."

"I know," said Skyfrost. "Firesquall, stay where you are."

Firesquall allowed himself to stop flying alongside Skyfrost, instead opting to remain aloft in midair by slowly flapping his wings.

Skyfrost then proceeded to veer upwards, tilting his entire body until he was flying in a completely vertical formation. Seth was now gripping the handles on Skyfrost's saddle to keep from falling off, his shoes pressing against the stirrups to help maintain his balance.

Skyfrost then veered up onto his backside, so that he was now flying whilst upside-down. He wasn't very comfortable, but Seth's legs were now dangling from the stirrups that he had looped his ankles through, while still holding onto the saddle with his hands.

"Seth!" shrieked Ingrid. "What are you _doing_?"

"This isn't even the best part!" exclaimed Seth. "Just watch! Get ready, Skyfrost."

"Oh, I'm ready," replied the wyvern.

Seth proceeded to wriggle his feet back through the stirrups, so that they would no longer be supported by them. Just as he got both of his shoes out of the stirrups, Seth proceeded to let go of the saddle with his hands. His body no longer connected to Skyfrost's, Seth proceeded to plummet downwards.

"SETH!" shrieked Ingrid, as Seth maneuvered his airborne body back into an upright position.

"He'll be fine," said Firesquall, just as Skyfrost swooped in underneath Seth. Seth had fallen no more than ten feet as his bottom came down for a perfect landing upon Skyfrost's saddle.

"Seth!" gasped Ingrid. "Are you alright?"

"Am I alright?" asked Seth, as he took in a deep breath and stuck his shoes back into Skyfrost's stirrups. "Am I **alright**? Are you kidding me, Ingrid? That was awesome!"

"I get it. It's just... don't scare me like that."

"Ingrid, you know the dragons would never let us fall to our deaths like that."

"I know, I know. It's just... scary. Watching you fall like that. Even though I know you'd be okay. The principle of it is kinda frightening to watch."

"Ingrid, you make it sound like I could've forgotten about all Seth and just continued flying," said Skyfrost.

"I'm sorry," said Ingrid. "But the idea of a human potentially falling thousands of feet to their death doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."

"You worry too much, Ingrid!" said Seth. "Jeez, you're starting to sound almost like Kendra!"

"Why?" asked Ingrid. "Because I'm worried about my brother? Oh, I'm sorry, that's what Kendra would say, isn't it? Well, what if I told you that I'm worried about my _boyfriend_?"

Seth opened his mouth. He wanted to say something in response, but he couldn't. Ingrid's remark had left him _speechless_.

"Ya hear that?" asked Skyfrost.

Firesquall chuckled. "Yup. It's hardly news, though."

"Seth, don't be _embarrassed_. Lighten up!"

Seth still found himself unable to speak. But he wasn't embarrassed. Not by a long shot. Rather, Seth was feeling elated. Overjoyed. Given his current position, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that he was on cloud nine.

"Seth?" asked Skyfrost. "Seth, you okay?"

"Air control to Seth!" said Firesquall. "Come in, Seth!"

Suddenly, a pair of golden, angelic wings came bursting out through Seth's shoulder blades, tearing two holes through the back of his shirt.

"Seth!" cried Ingrid. "What's going on? Why are you becoming an angel _now_?"

Seth smiled. "Isn't it obvious? I just found myself suddenly overcome with joy, on top of being surrounded with such close friends and family, that it just... happened!"

"That' pretty cool, is what that is," said Skyfrost.

"I'm gonna try something," said Seth, as he pulled his shoes out from Skyfrost's stirrups again. "Watch this!"

Seth released the grasp that he had upon Skyfrost, then allowed himself to fall over off of one side of the wyvern. He immediately found himself smacking against Skyfrost's leathery right wing, only to ricochet off and into the open air.

"Seth, take it easy!" exclaimed Skyfrost, as he and Firesquall both performed u-turns in mid-flight, turning themselves around in order to fly back towards Seth, who had now spread out his angelic wings and was utilizing updrafts of air to keep his body aloft.

"Guys, I'm fine," said Seth, once the wyverns flew up to where Seth was flying.

"Seth, you fell onto my wing!" stated Skyfrost. "Angel or not, you could've hurt yourself!"

"No offense, but your wing barely hurt at all," said Seth.

"Word of advice, Seth," said Firesquall. "If you're gonna take off like that, at least give a heads up! Unless you _wanted_ to get hit by my bro's wing."

"I get it, I get it. Sheesh. All I wanted to do was go flying with you guys. I mean, I've got these wings growing out of my back! I might as well put them to some use."

"You know," said Ingrid. "For someone who's an angel, you sure try to come off as a daredevil."

Seth blushed.

"Seth," said Skyfrost. "You want to try out some fancy flying all on your own?"

Seth rolled his eyes. "I... don't know. A lot of what you guys do looks pretty difficult. I don't think that my body is _quite_ as aerodynamic as a wyvern's. If what Hope's told me is anything to go on."

"It's not a race, Seth," said Firesquall.

"Course, if it were, no one would bet on him," said Skyfrost.

"I didn't ask for this to turn into some kind of competition!" stated Seth. "I just wanted to fly around with you guys. Nothing crazy."

"Okay, okay," said Firesquall. "We get it. You don't like the high speeds."

"Are you kidding? I love zipping through the sky. When I'm riding on Skyfrost, that is. On my own, I'd rather just go at my own pace."

"Your pace, or a snail's?" asked Skyfrost. He and Firesquall both chuckled.

"Give him a rest, you guys," said Ingrid. "After all, he's only human."

"But he's an angel!" noted Firesquall. "Which is sort of like a human, right?"

"Whatever he is, he's our friend," said Skyfrost. "If we're too fast for him, that's fine. We'll just slow down so he can keep up with us."

"Seth, come here," said Ingrid, as Seth flew over by her side, his body turned towards hers.

"What is it?" asked Seth.

"Hold out your arms."

Seth held his arms forward. Without saying a word, Ingrid reached out and placed her arms around Seth's shoulders. As if it had been complete instinct, Seth interlocked his own arms with Ingrid's, then lifted her up off of Firesquall's saddle.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Firesquall, who was no doubt trying to figure out what had happened to his temporary passenger.

"What are we doing?" asked Ingrid, who was now embraced in a hug with Seth. "We're having the time of our lives! That's what we're doing!"

Seth held onto Ingrid as tightly as he could. Right now, his and her arms were the only thing that were keeping Ingrid herself from plunging downward.

Seth then veered himself and Ingrid into an upright position, slowly flapping his wings to bob himself up and down in midair.

"What do you think of the view?" asked Seth, gazing at the myriad of clouds that surrounded them in all directions.

"It's not the view that matters," said Ingrid. "It's the experience."

Ingrid then proceeded to kiss Seth. Had he not already sprouted his wings at this point, this kiss surely would've been the thing to have done it.

Although Ingrid claimed to be holding the view in complete disregard, Seth couldn't help but notice that the sun was beginning to set along the west end of the horizon.

"We'd better get back," said Seth, turning to look at Skyfrost and Firesquall.

"You're right," said Ingrid. "But we don't need to rush. You mind flying us down, Seth?"

"It'd be my pleasure," said Seth, nodding in response, as he titled his entire body forward so that he could look down at the massive forest that lay beneath him.

* * *

Kneeling in front of a flower garden that was bursting with vibrantly-colored tulips, Kendra Sorenson watched in awe at the dozens of fairies that were fluttering in the air around her. While some of the colorful fairies opted to frolic among the flowers, it seemed as though a greater number of them were fluttering around Kendra herself.

Suddenly, Kendra felt as something small gently bumped into her backside. Turning herself around, Kendra looked down and saw Vanessa. The infantile fairy dragon let out a giggle, then proceeded to wrap her arms around one of Kendra's legs, hugging it.

"Hey there," said Kendra, patting the baby dragon's purple head.

"You sure are popular today, aren't you, Kendra?" asked a familiar voice. Kendra looked up and saw both Raxtus and Geminus walking through the garden towards her.

"Well, there is something special about today," said Kendra.

In actuality, Kendra could suspect _exactly_ what Raxtus was talking about. Today was Kendra's birthday. Her family and friends hadn't discussed it around her all that much, especially once October had finally rolled around. This morning, the adults had all admitted that they were busy with "other things", leaving the kids on their own.

Earlier in the day, Seth and Ingrid had invited Kendra to go flying with them. However, Kendra chose to decline their offer. When she had initially gone outside after a rather simple breakfast consisting of nothing but toast and strawberry preserves, she noticed that the fairies were giving her a lot more attention than they usually did. Sure, it was her birthday. And perhaps Bracken even told them to behave this way. But something about it seemed odd. Kendra couldn't decide whether their behavior had been natural or unusual.

"Someone sure seems happy," said Geminus, nodding at Raxtus.

"Happy about a _birthday_ , huh?" asked Raxtus, nodding in agreement.

Kendra grinned, but was unable to think of anything to say as a reply.

"That's right," said Geminus, as she scooped up Vanessa. " _You've_ got a birthday coming up, don't you?"

"Real soon, too," said Raxtus. "But let's get her back to the lair. The wyverns should be back soon, and they'll want to have dinner. Besides, we've been with you all day, Kendra. We need to rest."

"See you, Kendra," said Geminus, as she and Raxtus walked away through the garden, making their way around towards the back of the house.

Not long after the fairy dragons had left, Kendra could hear something approaching the ground from up high. Intrigued, Kendra gazed up towards the sky, where she could see Skyfrost and Firesquall swooping down in her general direction. However, what really intrigued Kendra was the fact that Seth, in his angel form, appeared to be flying alongside them. Once they neared in, Kendra could see that Ingrid was being carried within Seth's arms.

Within moments, Skyfrost and Firesquall both slowed down and lowered their talons as they came in for a landing only a few yards away from where Kendra was kneeling. Shortly after they folded their wings in, Seth reached the ground, releasing Ingrid from his hold.

"Seth, that was unbelievable!" exclaimed Ingrid.

"Yeah!" blurted Seth, raising his arms in approval. Now that he was on ground, he could really feel his heart racing in excitement. "I felt like a superhero!"

"Seth!" gasped Skyfrost. "Your wings!"

Everyone, including Seth himself, watch as the wings on Seth's back suddenly receded back into his body.

"Yikes," said Firesquall. "You picked a pretty intense time to stop flying."

Seth laughed. "I kinda expected that to happen. You see, now that I'm back on the ground, and there's no crisis or anything going on, I don't need to be an angel."

"Hey, Kendra," said Ingrid, as she and the others all approached her.

"Seth, what happened up there?" asked Kendra, trying to figure out in her mind as to why Seth had even become an angel while they'd been up in the sky.

"You missed it!" said Seth. "Kendra, we asked you what... _fifty times_ to come flying with us today? And did you comply? No! You decided to sit around in this boring old garden all afternoon so that you could smell the roses!"

"There's more too it than that, Seth! And _boring_ is hardly the term I'd use to describe this garden."

"Kendra, we know it's gorgeous," said Ingrid. "But you've got to admit that it isn't all that exciting. No offense to any of you fairies."

The fairies that had been fluttering around Kendra all stopped and looked at Ingrid for a moment, then went back about their business. The fact that Ingrid spoke the word "fairy" was probably what got their attention, albeit only momentarily.

"Look, I've been flying with you plenty of times," said Kendra. "Maybe I just wanted some _alone_ time. Ever thought of that?"

"I guess we _are_ pretty wild fliers," said Skyfrost. "Kendra probably just wasn't in the mood to go off with us."

"There's more to it than that," said Kendra. "Lately, the fairies have shown a real attraction to me. More so than usual. Now that I've had some time to myself, I've really gotten the chance to bond with the fairies. They've always been drawn to me in the past. But this time, I feel really connected to them. It's as though I belong with them. At least, that's what they've been telling me."

"It's true!" cried a tiny voice. Everyone looked to the side and saw Passion, Larissa, Goldenrod and Melody fly up towards Kendra.

"Kendra really has changed over the past few months," said Passion. "Ever since we first came to Fablehaven."

" _I haven't been here long_ ," sang Melody. " _So I cannot make a comparison. But the draw is there._ "

"Well, what's it like?" asked Ingrid. "The draw you're feeling from Kendra, that is."

"It's strange," replied Goldenrod. "We've always felt an attraction to Kendra. But, over the course of our stay, the draw has gotten stronger. I can't explain it."

"Fairies that have been around here since Bahamut was freed, including those who contributed to making Kendra fairykind in the first place, can vouch for us," said Larissa.

" _Kendra's strength seems to keep increasing_ ," hummed Melody. " _Perhaps she is maturing_."

"I _am_ growing up," said Kendra. "After all, today I..."

"Today _what_?" asked Goldenrod.

Kendra sighed. "Never mind. It's nothing."

However, it wasn't nothing. Even with the attention the fairies had been giving her. Kendra was feeling neglected by her own family. On her birthday. Surely they were planning _something_. No way they would forget. But whatever it was, Kendra felt that due to a lack of commotion, they were probably planning to keep it very low key, if they were doing anything at all. If they were going out, they'd have at least asked Kendra to dress up or something. But alas, Kendra hadn't heard anything.


	2. Unexpected Guests

**Chapter 2: Unexpected Guests**

Kendra, Seth and Ingrid all stood in the yard, facing Skyfrost and Firesquall. Kendra was still somewhat unclear as to what they would be doing for dinner, now that the sun was starting to go down.

"It's getting a bit late now," said Firesquall. "Come on, Skyfrost. Let's get back to the lair."

"You're probably right," said Skyfrost, as he and Firesquall both scampered off around the side of the house, akin to how Raxtus and Geminus had done so only a few moments ago. "See you guys later."

"I'm getting pretty hungry myself," said Seth. "Come on. Let's go inside."

Seth walked through the garden and up to the front door of the house, prompting Kendra and Ingrid to follow his lead. As Seth stepped into the entry foyer, Kendra and Ingrid entered alongside him.

"Hello?" called Kendra. "Uh... is anyone around?

Grandma proceeded to emerge from the entrance to the kitchen that led into the hallway. "Oh, there you kids are! I've been waiting for you. I'm about to serve dinner."

Kendra proceeded to walk down the hall towards the dining room. Before Seth could follow her, Ingrid grabbed his shoulder.

"Seth," said Ingrid in a whisper, as she sided up against her brother's ear, "what exactly are we having for dinner?"

"I dunno," hushed Seth, not wanting Kendra to hear. "Just roll with it, okay?"

"Oh, not in there," said Grandma, as Kendra peered into the dining room. The moment she stuck her head through the doorway, she got a whiff of some rather noxious chemical.

"What's that smell?" asked Seth, as he and Ingrid also experienced the same odor as Kendra.

"Oh, I'm sorry about the smell," said Grandma. "I was cleaning the table earlier, and I accidentally spilled a can of varnish onto the rug. I tried getting it out, but it's still lingering. I'll have to get it cleaned, but that'll require getting the table off of it first. But we won't be eating in there for now."

"So, where should we eat, then?" asked Seth.

"The back patio. It's still fairly warm today. Go on and take a seat."

As Grandma led the kids through the kitchen, Kendra found that she wasn't able to smell anything that may have been cooked in the oven. Come to think of it, she didn't see any sort of prepared food on the counter. By that point, Grandma had led the three kids out the back door and onto the patio, where they sat down at a small table. More than four places had been set, implying that other people would be joining them for dinner.

"Grandma," said Ingrid. "What's for dinner?"

"Something I whipped up," replied Grandma. "Hold on a second."

Grandma stepped back inside the house.

"Okay, Grandma is officially acting strange," said Seth.

"She didn't even say a word about anyone else in the family," said Kendra. "What gives?"

"Maybe she's just overworked," said Ingrid. "She made a mess in the dining room earlier, and probably stressed herself out trying to clean it up."

"Why didn't she ask for help? I've been home all day, even if you two and the others have been out. Speaking of which, where in God's name _is_ everyone else?"

"How should we know?" asked Seth.

"If they weren't going to be here, they'd have said something," said Kendra. "Maybe I'll just call some of them and find out for myself."

"Kendra," said Ingrid, as Kendra reached into her pocket and removed her phone, "take it easy."

Before Kendra could think of someone to call, Grandma walked out onto the patio carrying two plates in her hands.

"Kendra, no phones at the table," said Grandma, as she walked over to the table and set the plates down in front of Kendra and Ingrid. "Seth, I'll be back with our plates in a moment."

"HOLD IT!" snapped Kendra, looking down at her plate. On it sat what appeared to be a raw hamburger patty with some herbs sprinkled upon it, surrounded by some greens. "What _is_ this?"

"Oh," said Grandma, "it's a new recipe. Steak tartare."

"Steak tartare?" groaned Seth.

"Isn't that literally raw beef?" asked Ingrid.

"Try it," said Grandma. "You'll like it."

"Grandma, come on!" groaned Kendra. "Who'd want to eat _this_?"

"That does it," muttered Seth. "Call me a picky eater all you want, Grandma, but we are **not** eating raw beef for dinner!"

"I agree with Seth," said Kendra, as Ingrid nodded in agreement. "Even if I didn't find this unappetizing, there's still the risk of getting food poisoning from eating uncooked meat, not to mention..."

Suddenly, a large crowd of people and creatures, all of whom Kendra and Seth recognized, appeared in the yard from out of nowhere, as if by magic. Studying the crowd, they discovered that it consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson, Grandpa Sorenson, Warren, Dale, Grandpa and Grandma Larsen, Trask, Mara, Maddox, Berrigan, Lance, David, Glenn, Luke, Bracken, the fairy angels, the dragons, Newel, Doren, Hugo, Mendigo, Stargleam, Windshear, and all of the reindeer.

"SURPRISE!" shouted the members of the crowd. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KENDRA!"

"Holy..." gasped Kendra. "I wasn't expecting all this!"

"It's okay," said Warren, trying to keep himself from smiling. "You can stop fretting over the steak tartare. It's not your actual dinner."

"You're all here?" asked Kendra, as she, Seth and Ingrid got out of their seats and walked down towards the crowd. "For me?"

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" said Lance.

"Not so long," said Berrigan. "We saw you at the Fairbanks' for that party not too long ago."

"How'd you do it?" asked Seth. "Getting everyone here like this, I mean?"

"Admit it, Seth," said Kendra. "You were in on this, weren't you?"

"We were," replied Ingrid. "Why do you think we were so eager to get you to come flying with us earlier?"

"Course, they didn't say anything about how everyone would be getting here," said Seth. "Or that we'd be served... steak tartare. Yuck."

Grandma laughed. "Honestly, Seth. Did you really think that I would ever expect you children to consume raw meat for dinner? Birthday or no birthday?"

"Good question," replied Seth, narrowing his brow. "I usually enjoy your cooking, Grandma."

"What do you mean when you say _usually_?" asked Doren.

"Are you implying that Ruth's cooking is imperfect?" asked Newel. "That it can be problematic?"

Seth could not think of a response. A moment later, the entire crowd erupted in a fit of laughter. Despite the slight feeling of embarrassment, Seth joined in on the laughing.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Seth," said Grandpa. "Because we will not be eating my wife's cooking tonight."

"Really?" asked Ingrid. "Well, what are we having for dinner, then?"

"For your birthday, we are going to be having an elaborate seafood banquet!" stated Mrs. Sorenson.

"Really?" asked Seth. "That sounds awesome!"

Kendra proceeded to glance around the yard. "Okay, I give. Where is this banquet?"

"Yeah," said Ingrid. "I haven't seen any trace of one."

"The banquet isn't exactly here," replied Grandma. "But it will be."

"Oh, is it being catered?" asked Seth.

"Sort of," replied Mr. Sorenson. "You see, we had all of the food for your birthday catered to Mr. Landry's house."

"Mr. Landry's house?" asked Kendra. "But that's in Houston! Are we going there for dinner?"

"I considered hosting the dinner at my place," said Glenn. "But we ultimately decided that having the dinner right here at Fablehaven would be more accommodating for some of your friends."

"However, having a large seafood dinner catered to this address is rather difficult," said Trask. "So we've ordered the food to be catered to Glenn's home. Since it's a large place, the caterers are unlikely to suspect that their food will be transported in secret to Fablehaven."

"I get it," said Kendra, as she and her siblings all nodded in response.

"I don't mean to pry, or anything," said Seth. "But... when are we having this dinner?"

"It shouldn't be far from now," said Glenn, looking at his watch. "The caterers are scheduled to arrive at my house soon. I have staff at the house who can accept the food. Once the food has been delivered, they will phone me, and a few people from here can travel to my house with the Translocator and bring the food back here."

"That's actually a pretty good plan," said Ingrid.

"I'd have preferred it if the food could have been ready by the time you kids got back from flying," said Warren. "But, it was trouble enough trying to arrange everything and getting everyone here right now."

"That's all right," said Kendra. "As long as we have to wait, that gives me time to greet all of our guests."

Kendra walked up to Grandpa Larsen and gave him a hug, followed by Grandma Larsen. Likewise, Seth and Ingrid went up to various other guests, making sure to greet them either with a hug or a handshake.

Kendra and Seth both felt elated, getting to meet so many members of their friends and family all in one place. Over the course of the next quarter of an hour, the two of them, as well as the rest of the family and all of the guests, got reacquainted with one another.

"Hello, Kendra," said Bravia, as she stepped up in front of Kendra, just moments after Mara had finished a brief conversation and walked away to find somebody else to speak to.

"Hi, Bravia," said Kendra, as she smiled at the silver-haired fairy, and second-oldest child of the Fairy Queen. Although all of the magical creatures had been eyeing Kendra since everyone began mingling, Bravia was the first to approach Kendra directly. "It's nice to see you again,"

"You too," said Bravia, she shook Kendra's hand. After the handshake had went on for several seconds, Kendra attempted to pull her hand out of Bravia's grasp. But Bravia just appeared to be standing on the spot, almost as though she had been in some sort of trance.

"Uh, do you mind?" asked Kendra, as she tugged her own hand out of Bravia's, managing to free it.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" gasped Bravia. "I just, sensed something."

"Really? Something what?"

"I can't explain it. It was just this strange feeling I got from being in your presence."

"You and the rest of us!" exclaimed Brook, as she walked up and stood next to her elder sister, then took a good look at Kendra.

"You actually touched her, though," said Tiara. "What did it feel like?"

"Would someone tell me what's going on?" asked Kendra, now that the entire league of fairy angels had gathered around her.

"Okay," said Brillia. "We'll be upfront about this. You see, Kendra. When we first laid our eyes upon you today, all of us noticed that something about you was amiss."

"What do you mean when you say _amiss_? What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you," said Bright. "But were are sensing some unusual energy coming from you."

"Unusual energy?" asked Kendra. "What are you talking about?"

"You tell us," said Clover.

"Girls," said Bracken, as he stepped in front of Kendra. "Girls! I've been seeing Kendra every day for the past several months. And nothing seems out of the ordinary with her."

"How have you _not_ noticed it?" asked Shiara.

"It must be in your heads or something."

"It's all in _your_ head, Bracken!" stated Opal.

"Look, I've touched Kendra more than the rest of all you fairy angels put together. I think it's safe to say I know what I'm talking about."

"Hold her hand if you don't believe us," said Bravia. "And focus on her for a moment."

"All right," said Bracken. "If you seem so sure about it, I will. Kendra, may I have your hand?"

"Okay..." said Kendra, thinking about how Bravia had been reluctant of letting go of it only a moment ago.

Bracken accepted Kendra's hand in his own. As he held it, for the next ten seconds or so, judging from the plain look he had on his face, Bracken appeared to be rather unimpressed.

Suddenly, Bracken's face immediately lit up. His mouth had shot open, seemingly aghast. However, he was still holding on to Kendra's hand.

"Bracken!" exclaimed Brillia. "Bracken!"

"What?" blurted Bracken, as he finally released the hold he had on Kendra's hand.

"Well?" asked Bravia. "Did you sense it?"

There was a pause. "Yes. You were right. There _is_ something unusual about Kendra."

"What do you mean?" asked Kendra. "What's this unusual energy you're talking about?"

"I can't really explain it," said Bracken. "But now that I've looked into it, there's definitely more energy resonating from you today than there usually is."

"But... why? I haven't done anything out of the ordinary since everything that happened at World's End. And that was weeks ago!"

"Excuse us," said Dale, as he and Warren made their way past Kendra, seemingly in some sort of hurry.

"What is it?" asked Kendra, prompting Dale and Warren to come to a stop.

"Oh, the food is ready at Glenn's place," replied Warren. "We're going to grab the Translocator, so that we can head down there with your parents and pick it up."

"You might as well get seated," said Mrs. Sorenson. "We won't be gone for too long,"

As Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson went back inside the house with the Burgess brothers, Kendra, Seth and Ingrid made their way over to one of several circular dinner tables that had been set up in the backyard only moments prior.

Kendra sat down in one of the chairs, as did Seth and Ingrid. No sooner were they seated had most of the fairy angels gathered around the same table.

"Can we sit here?" asked Tiara, as she eyed the vacant seat that was to Kendra's immediate left.

Kendra winced. "Sorry. But I kinda wanted to have Bracken to sit next to me."

With that said, Bracken came by and sat down next to Kendra.

"Okay..." said Clover, as she set her hand upon one of the other two chairs. "What about one of these other seats?"

"I was hoping my parents could sit there,"

"Come on, Kendra," said Seth. "We always eat with Mom and Dad. Why can't we sit with some of the fairy angels? Or some of our other friends?"

"Seth, it's Kendra's birthday!" stated Ingrid. "She can sit with who she wants!"

"Look, there's only six seats at this table," said Bracken. "You can't all sit here!"

"All right, all right," said Brillia. "He's got a point. Come on, girls. We'll just have to find seats elsewhere."

"Figures Bracken would get special treatment," said Brook, as she and the other fairies made their way over to the other tables.

A moment later, Mrs. and Mrs. Sorenson, Warren and Dale all appeared in the yard, each holding something in their hands. With them were a few other faces whom Kendra did not recognize. However, they were all wearing tuxedos, giving her the impression that they were servants who worked for the Landrys.

From her table, Kendra could make out king crab legs on one tray, while another boasted a large shrimp cocktail display. The travelers placed their dishes down on a long table that had been set up, then disappeared again by way of the Translocator.

After a few more return trips had been made from the Landrys', the long table was now full of different platters, bowls and pots of varying kinds of seafood.

"I believe that's the last of it," said Mr. Sorenson, speaking loudly so that the entire crowd could hear him. "If everyone could find a seat if they haven't already, please do so. Glenn Landry was kind enough to lend us members of his staff, and they will be coming around to your tables to take everyone's order."

Shortly after Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson sat down at the same table with their children, a member of Glenn's staff came up to Kendra's side. An older, balding man, he smiled at Kendra.

"You're the birthday girl, yes?" he asked. "What can I get for you?"

"What exactly is there?" asked Kendra.

"All sorts of seafood, dear. Fish, lobster, crab, bisque, oysters. You name it."

"You know, the lobster sounds good."

"Excellent choice," said the man. "We will have it boiled for you momentarily. Would you like a salad to start?"

"Caesar, please."

As the waiter went around the table taking other people's orders, Kendra looked around at the people who were sitting at the other tables. Off to one side was where the dragons, as well as Stargleam and Windsheer were standing around, but they were not at a table. However, another waiter was currently speaking to Stargleam.

A few minutes later, Kendra was in the middle of eating her salad, when she felt something touch her right shoulder. Before she could react, something else then touched her left shoulder. Next thing she knew, something was touching her head

"Hey!" said Kendra, as she reached for her left shoulder, only for her hand to startle Larissa into flying off of it.

"What's going on?" asked Bracken, as he looked up from eating his bowl of lobster bisque. "Passion! Larissa! Goldenrod! What are you doing?"

"We can't help it!" exclaimed Passion, who along with Goldenrod, was now floating above the table.

"There's just so much energy coming from Kendra!" stated Goldenrod.

"Do you mind?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "It's hard for us to eat with you fairies floating around the table."

"You heard Marla," said Bracken. "I want you three to leave us alone until we're done eating."

"Us three?" asked Passion. "But what about the rest of us?"

"Rest of you?" asked Seth, as he and the other members of the table looked to where Passion was pointing. Hovering directly behind Kendra was an enormous court of fairies. At least one-hundred. Presumably every fairy that currently resided at Fablehaven.

Kendra rolled her eyes, then let out a sigh. "This is getting _weird_."


	3. Birthday Blues

**Chapter 3: Birthday Blues**

Once the unannounced fairies had left Kendra alone, the remainder of the dinner turned out to be quite enjoyable. Everybody feasted on seafood, including everything from clam chowder to garlic scampi to pan-seared haddock.

Having ordered lobster for herself, Kendra found that she was the last person at her table to have not yet finished her entree. She had gotten around to eating most of the meat, but had one leg left to crack open.

"You almost done with that?" asked Seth, watching as Kendra struggled to rip open the leg with her bare hands.

"It's harder than it looks, Seth," replied Kendra. It's too narrow to break with the cracker, and it's all briny, so it's hard to hold."

"You did pretty good with the rest of it, though," said Mrs. Sorenson.

"That lobster reminds me of the thermidorpion," said Seth.

"Thermi-what?" asked Ingrid.

"Thermidorpion," said Kendra, who had finally snapped open the leg, and proceeded to pull out a sliver of meat with her fingers. "We ran into one back when we tried to stop Tritanoss."

"It was a lot bigger than this guy," said Seth. "The king crab legs I just ate? The thermidorpion makes that king look like a peasant."

"Seth, that thing was enormous!" exclaimed Kendra. "It gave Mariana a run for her money!"

At that moment, a waiter came up next to Kendra.

"Excuse me, but are you done with your plate?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Kendra, prompting the waiter to remove her plate from the table.

"So the thermidoprion," said Seth. "I bet he'd taste good boiled with butter."

Kendra winced. "Please. "I'd rather not have to mess with another monster like that again if I can avoid it."

"Tell that to Warren," said Ingrid. "And the rest of the family. They won't agree with you."

"What makes you say that?" asked Bracken.

"If they didn't expect us to keep having to fight monsters, we wouldn't need any more of Warren's training."

"As much as I enjoy it, you've got a point," said Seth. "We're only learning to fight and defend ourselves, because threats like the thermidorpion exist."

"Don't remind me," said Kendra, as she wiped the brine off her hands with a moist towelette. "I'll fight any monster that I must. But sometimes I just wish there was no need to fight."

"Well, lately things have been pretty smooth," said Mr. Sorenson. "There haven't been any more incidents since the whole thing that went on with Ronodin."

"And Clover says that Keenheart has been showing real potential," said Bracken, nodding with a smile.

Suddenly, a chorus of fairies could be heard singing at one edge of the yard, drawing the attention of everybody who was at the party.

"What's going on with the fairies?" asked Ingrid.

"It sounds beautiful," said Bracken. "But I don't know what they're so excited about."

At that moment, the Fairy Queen materialized around all of the singing fairies.

"It's her!" gasped several of the guests, while others all murmured among one another.

"Mother," said Brillia, as she stood up from her seat and scampered over to the spot where the Fairy Queen was standing.

"What do we have here?" asked the Fairy Queen, as she walked over towards Kendra's table. To Kendra and Seth, it seemed as though every other guest was frozen in awe.

All of the fairy angels stood up and bowed before the Fairy Queen, just as she stepped over by Kendra's side. The fairies who had been singing only a moment ago were now swarming directly behind the queen.

"Hi, your majesty," said Kendra, as she smiled at the Fairy Queen.

"Happy birthday, Kendra," said the Fairy Queen.

"Mother," said Bracken. "I'm kind of surprised to see you here."

"It's true that us fairies don't see birthdays as a celebratory gathering. But after a second though, I felt that for Kendra, with her being my mortal handmaiden, it would only be appropriate if I made the effort to come to this festivity."

"Thank you," said Kendra, as she glanced over at the long table where there was still plenty of food. "We kind of already ate dinner. But there's plenty leftover if you'd like some."

"Maybe a little later. You see, the main reason I came here is because I happen to have something for you."

"Wait, wait, wait," said Bracken. "Before you do anything. The fairies of Fablehaven have something for Kendra. Do your stuff, girls!"

The fairies that had been hovering next to the Fairy Queen all flew over the table that was in front of Kendra and her family. Now that the dishes had all been cleared away, the dozens of fairies proceeded to fly around the table in a circular formation, as sparkling glitter flowed down from their bodies.

"What's going on?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

Suddenly, a layer of circular brown cake that was the size of the table materialized before Kendra. As more colorful sparkles rained down from the fairies, a layer of frosting and trim appeared over the bare cake. The frosting was in a blend of rainbow colors, almost in a pattern that resembled tye-dye.

The fairies all rose up a few inches, as more sparkles kept flowing down from their bodies. Within seconds, another layer of cake and frosting appeared atop the first one, but a bit smaller in diameter. Everybody watched as the fairies added more and more layers atop the cake, each one smaller than the one that preceded it.

After what seemed like it had to have been maybe twenty layers, the fairies flew down from atop the cake, the highest layer of which towered over Kendra.

The Fairy Queen then flicked her finger. She produced a small fireball in her hand, which shot up towards the top of the cake. Even though it was impossible to see the top of the cake from where Kendra was sitting, everybody around her began to sing _Happy Birthday_ to Kendra.

"Cake time!" exclaimed Newel.

"She's gotta blow out the candles first, dummy!" said Doren.

Kendra stood up and stared at the top of the cake, which was far too high for her to reach, even if she were to stand on her tiptoes.

"I can't reach the candles!" gasped Kendra. "They're way too high!"

"I can help with those," said Skyfrost.

"Don't," said Grandpa sternly.

"Perhaps we didn't entirely think this through," said Bright.

"Allow me," said Bracken, as he hit Kendra with a small flash of white energy.

Kendra suddenly felt as her body slowly began to rise up into the air. Within a few seconds, she was floating at level with the top of the cake, and could now see a bunch of lit candles glowing atop the highest layer. Although she didn't bother to actually count them, Kendra presumed that there were seventeen in all.

"Come on, make a wish!" said Seth.

"Yeah," said Doren. "The sooner she makes a wish, the sooner we get to eat!"

As everyone else laughed, Kendra did what she could to block out their voices, as she came up with an idea for a wish in her head. She hated to be put on the spot like this, but felt that whatever she wished for ultimately didn't matter. So she simply envisioned herself and everyone around her being happy. Kendra took in a deep breath, then proceeded to blow out all of the candles in one go.

"They're out!" exclaimed Kendra, watching as trails of smoke drifted off the burnt wick of every last birthday candle. An applause from the crowd quickly followed. "Can I come down now?"

"Of course" said Bracken. She couldn't quite tell how Bracken was controlling her, but Kendra soon found herself slowly descending down to the ground, where she gently landed upon her feet.

"We can start cutting slices and passing them around," said Bright, as she and the other fairy angels flew over towards the cake.

Clover produced a knife in her hand, then flew up to the top of the cake and proceeded to cut out a slice, which she placed upon a floating plate that another fairy angel was levitating. The plate then flew down next to Kendra, but now that the whole cake was occupying the entire table, Kendra and her family no longer had a place to sit at.

"Hold on," said Brillia, as she waved her hand around. Within seconds, a new table appeared next to the one that held the cake.

As Kendra and the others moved their chairs to the new table, the fairies proceeded to slice and serve more slices of cake to the rest of the guests. Unsurprisingly, the dragons had slices that were considerably larger than the ones that the other guests had received.

Within minutes, everybody had a slice of cake in front of them. Even the Fairy Queen, who was now sitting at a table with her daughters. Everyone proceeded to eat their slices. To Kendra, the cake was delicious. It was so rich, moist and fresh. It even gave the brownies' baked goods a run for their money. Though to be fair, the brownies actually put effort and devotion into their food, as opposed to just producing it magically.

"Wow," said Seth, looking over at the cake, which now had several of its lowest and largest layers still intact and untouched. "I don't know if anyone can eat anymore after all this! More than half of it's still left. And there's still plenty of seafood as well."

"I think the fairies got a little carried away," said Bracken. "Something tells me they went overboard, trying to impress Kendra."

"Well, some of it we can keep as leftovers," said Mrs. Sorenson. "And besides, we can always give our guests some of it take home."

"Speaking of giving," said Mr. Sorenson. "Your mother and I have something for you."

"Me too," said Seth, smiling.

"And me." said Ingrid. "But it's inside the house."

"Fairies," said Dale. "That's your cue!"

The hands of several fairy angels began to glow. As they waved their hands around, sparkles shot out and produced another square table near where Kendra was sitting. Additionally, a small mountain of wrapped presents appeared on top of the table.

"Wow!" gasped Kendra. "Are these all for me? Who're they even from?"

"Everyone who's here," said Grandpa. "The fairies merely transported the presents from where we hid them to right here."

Kendra walked over to the table and grabbed the box that was closest to her. She opened the card that had been taped to the box and read it. It was from Mara.

"Thank you!" said Kendra, as she proceeded to unwrap the paper. Inside was a blank card box. Upon opening the box, Kendra discovered that it contained a dream-catcher.

"This is so cool" said Kendra, dangling the dream-catcher from her hand like a mobile. "Thanks a lot!"

"You're welcome," said Mara. "May all of your best dreams come true."

Kendra went ahead and opened more and more presents. She wound up receiving a wide variety of gifts, including clothes, homemade trinkets and knick-knacks, books, cosmetics, fancy candies and more. The fairy angels in particular had all given Kendra various pieces of jewelry, including bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings and more.

Eventually, Kendra had finished opening up every final present that had been on the table.

"Thank you so much, everybody," said Kendra. "I don't think I've ever gotten so many gifts before in my life!"

"You deserve them," said Warren. "You've done so much to help just about everybody who's here. And then some."

 _Guess I'll have something good to look forward to on **my** birthday, _Seth thought to himself.

"Hold on!" exclaimed the Fairy Queen, as she got up from her seat. "Kendra, you haven't received _my_ present yet."

"Oh, your majesty!" gasped Kendra, "I didn't even think..."

"Don't feel so worried. I just want to give you a present to show my appreciation for you."

"Okay then."

The Fairy Queen's hands began to glow. She then expelled sparkles from her hands and directed them at the table where the rest of the now-opened presents all sat. At the edge of the table that was closest to Kendra was where a small wrapped gift materialized.

"Go ahead," said the Fairy Queen, smiling. "Open it."

Kendra examined the gift. The box, which was shaped like a rectangular prism and no more than a few inches long, was wrapped in a silky white wrapping paper, and tied up in a thick, pink ribbon. There was no card attached to it.

Kendra proceeded to removed the ribbon, then unwrapped the paper. Inside was what best resembled a white necklace box. Except it was several inches tall, which was more than enough room to house a necklace.

"Oh my..." said Kendra. "Thank you!"

"Open the box," said the Fairy Queen.

Kendra grasped the lower part of the box with one hand, then used her other hand to pull open the top part. Astonished, Kendra gazed at what she found was inside of the box. It was a tiara.

"A tiara?" exclaimed Kendra, as she removed the piece of headwear from the box. "It's... beautiful!"

Observing the tiara in her hands, Kendra saw that the platinum frame was studded with countless sparkling diamonds. Her birthstone, a large, heart-shaped opal, was in the very center. Several other gems were embedded in other points of the crown.

"Your majesty," said Kendra. "I don't know what to say!"

"Have you tried _Thank you_?" asked Seth.

"Seth!" snapped Mrs. Sorenson. "Kendra has just been given a very prestigious gift by the Queen of the Fairies!"

The Fairy Queen chuckled. "It's okay, Marla. Go ahead, Kendra. Try it on."

Kendra proceeded to set the tiara down atop her head, nestling it within her hair.

"Wow!" gasped Bracken. "Kendra, that tiara. You look like a different person wearing it!"

"Agreed," said Bright, as she and the other fairy angels all nodded.

"It's very nice," said Seth. "Don't get me wrong."

"You don't understand, Seth," said Tiara. "Kendra feels... different, somehow."

"I don't get it," said Ingrid. "She's still Kendra."

A moment later, the minor fairies that had been hovering nearby all flew over towards Kendra, and proceeded to latch themselves onto Kendra's body. While some of them completely covered her tiara, other fairies clung to her clothes and upper body, while more simply fluttered around nearby.

"I'm flattered," said Kendra, who couldn't so much as see with fairies trying to cling onto her face. "But do you mind?"

"We're sorry, your highness!" said one of the fairies, as she and the other fairies flew off of Kendra's face.

"Hold it," said Brillia. "Did you just refer to Kendra as _your highness_?"

The fairy who had just spoken, who sported orange hair with pink highlights, nodded. The other fairies all nodded as well.

A flurry of chit-chat suddenly transpired between the Fairy Queen and the fairy angels.

"What's going on?" asked Tanu, who looked just as confused as everyone else.

"Pardon me," said the Fairy Queen, as she turned to face the minor fairies. "But what ever persuaded you to address Kendra as _your_ _highness_?"

"We feel attached to Kendra," replied another fairy. "We feel a connection."

"She is my chosen handmaiden," said the Fairy Queen. "And you fairies are connected to me. So by extension, you are also connected to Kendra."

"No," said another fairy. Today Kendra feels... _different_. The connection we feel with her is stronger."

"What are those fairies _saying_?" asked Ingrid. Mrs. and Mrs. Sorenson both shrugged.

"We don't know what it is," said the first fairy. "But for some reason, we feel more drawn to Kendra than we do even to _you_ , your majesty."

"What does that mean?" asked Kendra, who didn't quite understand where the conversation was going. She looked at the Fairy Queen and the fairy angels, all of whom appeared to in shock.

"What it means," said the Fairy Queen. "Well, you see... I've always had the greatest influence over the fairies. And somehow, that connection has been superseded by yours, Kendra."

"But how?" asked Kendra.

"You're getting older. You're blossoming into an adult. You're changing."

"Is it the tiara?"

The Fairy Queen shook her head. "There's nothing magical or supernatural about it. It has no special properties. It's just a symbol. However, the fairies see it as a sign of fairy royalty."

"So what do the fairies want with me?"

"Kendra, even I don't understand everything there is to do with you and your status as my handmaiden. Except that now, I can no longer consider you my handmaiden."

"What do you mean?" asked Bracken. "Kendra didn't do anything wrong! Did she?"

"Heavens no," replied the Fairy Queen. "Kendra, from what I can tell... The fairies have chosen you. They see you now as their queen."

"Their queen?" uttered Kendra, who could feel her entire body quivering. "How? I'm not their queen! You are!"

"The fairies don't see it that way. Your position in the Fairy Kingdom is growing."

"But... how? How can they just elect me as their new queen? What'll happen to you?"

"Kendra, I'm just as confused as you are about all this," said the Fairy Queen.

"I don't want to be the Fairy Queen! Not yet! I don't feel ready at all!"

"I still officially hold the title of Fairy Queen. Even if I'm not recognized as such. But I cannot force the fairies to favor me over you."

"Maybe I could tell them to," said Kendra.

"I'd rather you didn't. We don't fully understand this situation. I will return to the Fairy Kingdom and try to figure out what exactly is going on, and see if there's any way to remedy it."

Kendra plopped herself back down in her seat. Overwhelmed by the whole ordeal, Kendra didn't care that she was surrounded by family and friends. After everything that had transpired, she just wanted to rest.


	4. Crowning

**Chapter 4: Crowning**

"Kendra," said Grandpa, placing a hand upon her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Currently sitting down in her chair, Kendra gazed at the yard around her. Everyone who was attending her birthday celebration had now crowded around Kendra and was staring at her in awe.

"So Kendra's really our new queen?" asked Bright, who bore a look of confusion upon her face.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," said Kendra, who now felt overwhelmed with a wave of dizziness. "Excuse me, but I need to go inside."

Kendra stood up and stumbled her way over to the patio.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"I just want to be alone," said Kendra, as he placed a hand on the handle of the sliding door that led into the kitchen.

"But what about your party, your highness?" asked Newel. Ignoring the satyr, Kendra slid open the door and stepped into the kitchen, then closed the door behind herself.

"Not now, Newel," said Dale. "This is a very overwhelming situation for all of us."

"What's going to happen to the Fairy Kingdom now?" asked Ingrid.

"It's hard to say," said the Fairy Queen. "If Kendra does not accept her position as queen, I don't imagine much will change. "But if she did..."

The court of fairies was now hovering in front of the door to the kitchen. Seth could tell that as much as they wanted to follow Kendra into the kitchen, they couldn't physically do so due to the effect of the treaty, even if the door had been left open.

"I guess I'd better get going," said the Fairy Queen. Hopefully I'll find some sort of solution before too long."

"All right," said Brillia. "We'll stay here. As long as everyone else is still around, there's no need to abandon the party."

Warren sighed. "It's not much of a birthday party without the birthday girl."

"I know Kendra wants to be alone," said Bracken. "But at the same time, I feel compelled to follow her. I can sense just how distraught she is. She needs support, even if she doesn't think so. And if she doesn't want me around, I'll leave."

"I think you might be onto something," said Bracken. "She might just listen to you."

* * *

Having made her way up to the attic, Kendra fell back onto her bed and allowed her body to flake out on the bed.

Kendra was worried. She hadn't actually done or agreed to anything, and now she was suddenly being hailed as the new queen of the fairies. What was she going to do? Deep down she wanted someone to speak to, and was now regretting her request to be left alone.

A moment later, Kendra could hear someone knocking on her door.

"What?" asked Kendra.

"It's me," came Bracken's voice from the other side of the door. "I know you asked to be alone, but may I come in?"

Kendra sighed. "Okay, I guess."

The door opened up and Bracken entered the attic. He walked over to Kendra's bed and sat down on the foot of it.

"Kendra, how do you feel?" asked Bracken.

Kendra closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"I don't know."

"Kendra, we're just as confused about all of this as you. Mother has never had a handmaiden before. We don't know just what your true potential actually is."

"How is it that I'm already surpassing the matriarch of the entire fairy race? I'm not even a proper fairy!"

"There's more to being the Fairy Queen than having an excessive amount of raw power," said Bracken, running his fingers through Kendra's hair. "For some reason, the fairies are drawn to you moreso than their designated ruler."

"Why's that?"

"I told you already that I don't know. None of us know. It may be due to your innocence, or your pure heart. And in a way, you are the disciple of Mother. Perhaps this was meant to be. Even though you didn't ask for it."

"But I don't feel ready for this!" exclaimed Kendra. "Maybe you don't understand how human society fully works, but..."

"I'm willing to learn," said Bracken, placing a hand on Kendra's shoulder. "Kendra, you've become a part of my life. How could I _not_ want to learn more about mortals?"

Kendra took in a deep breath, exhaled, then smiled. "Thank you. But I'm still not ready to accept the position as Fairy Queen. Remember back when she disappeared, how her living will stated that I was to take the throne?"

"Yes, and you turned it down, because you were not ready emotionally."

"That was only a couple of months ago. And I'm still not ready. I only turned seventeen today. I'm still not legally an adult. Not for another whole year. And even then, I still don't know if I'd be ready."

"Do you know when you would be ready?"

Kendra shook her head. "I don't think so. I guess this is just one of those things that I'll have to accept someday. But I don't know if or when I'll ever be ready."

"Know this," said Bracken. "Whatever happens, just remember that I'll be there to help you though it. Seth. Warren. Ingrid. Your family. Your friends. We're all here to support you."

Bracken then leaned over and gave Kendra a kiss on her lips. Kendra experienced a pleasant feeling coursing its way through her body. However, she still felt worried.

"Thank you," said Kendra. "I'm glad you came up to check on me."

Bracken nodded. "I'll give you some space. I can tell that you're really overwhelmed by all of this."

"Thank you," said Kendra, as Bracken made his way through the door, then closed it behind himself.

For the next little while, Kendra remained alone in her room. The thought of what was going to transpire in regard to her standing among the fairies was all that she was able to focus on. Would she really have to accept the position of Fairy Queen, or would there be a way for the current queen to retain her crown?

Eventually, the door to the attic opened up and Ingrid entered.

"Hey, Kendra," said Ingrid, as she shut the door behind herself.

"Hi," said Kendra. She looked over at her bedside clock and saw that it was now after nine.

"You've been up here a while now."

"I know."

"I can't believe it! You're going to be the new Fairy Queen! You!"

"I'm worried, Ingrid. This whole ordeal caught me off guard! It was completely out of left field!"

"Everyone was talking about it after you and the Fairy Queen left the party. It got pretty boring after that, though. The rest of us kind of just sat around and talked to each other. It was nice getting to know people like Mara and Berrigan a bit more."

"I would have liked to have socialized with everyone some more, too. But this whole Fairy Queen thing kind of had me beside myself."

"I think we could all vouch for that. It's was the only thing everybody talked about for a good hour or so."

"What do you think is going to happen now?" asked Kendra. "Did anyone have any theories?"

"Your guess is as good as anybody else's," said Ingrid. "Nobody, not even the fairy angels, know what the Fairy Queen intends to do about all of this."

"Couldn't I just decline the position of Fairy Queen? Or just relinquish the crown back to Sylvia?"

"I'm pretty sure there's more to it than that. You're already seen as the queen without officially receiving the position."

"I just wish there could've been a way around all this," said Kendra. "I don't feel ready to be queen."

"It's funny," said Ingrid. "But I bet there's a ton of people who'd be thrilled to learn that they'd get to be queen or king of the fairies."

"You'd think it'd be amazing. But when it suddenly happens to you out of nowhere, it just blows your mind."

"Well, the party's over. The visitors have all gone home. Let's just get ready for bed. You've had a big day today."

"Understatement of the year," said Kendra.

"Tomorrow might be a big day, too," said Ingrid, as she began to change into her nightgown. "Especially if the Fairy Queen has figured out a solution to this whole situation."

"I hope so. All I want right now is for my life to get back on track."

"Kendra, even if you do have to accept the position of queen, couldn't you just order the fairies to accept the current Fairy Queen as their leader?"

"I could always try that. Either it'll work, or-"

"You'll create a paradox?"

Kendra laughed. "Guess we'll just have to find out, won't we?"

Kendra and Ingrid proceeded to get ready for bed. Despite all the commotion that had occurred earlier, Kendra wound up falling asleep with little difficulty.

* * *

The following morning, Kendra awoke. At first, it felt like any other day normally did to Kendra. Until she recalled what had just transpired yesterday. She was now starting off her first proper day as the queen of the fairies. However, if the Fairy Queen had come up with a way to somehow revoke Kendra's position, it would also be her last.

After freshening up and changing into some clean clothes, Kendra made her way downstairs to the dining room, where the rest of her family was already seated.

"Good morning, Kendra," said Mrs. Sorenson, as Kendra sat down in her seat.

"Hey," said Seth.

Kendra looked around at everyone. "Good morning. I half-expected somebody to address me as _your majesty_."

"Kendra, we want you to adjust to this as naturally as possible," said Grandma. "And we know how demanding all of this has been for you."

"What your grandmother is saying," said Grandpa, "is that all of us should take it easy right now. We're not going to ignore the situation outright and pretend that it doesn't exist. But to us, you are, and always have been, Kendra Sorenson."

"Thank you," said Kendra. "What's for breakfast, anyway?"

"Plenty of leftovers," replied Mrs. Sorenson. "Would you like some haddock? Or a crab cake?"

"Speaking of cake..." said Warren, lifting up a piece of birthday cake on his fork.

Shortly after breakfast was finished, somebody could be heard knocking outside. However, it was coming not from the front of the house, but from the back door.

"I'll get it," said Dale, as he got up from his seat and went into the kitchen. He returned shortly after with Bracken.

"Everyone, I ask that you all come out into the backyard right away," said Bracken.

"What's this all about?" asked Kendra, as she and the others began to get up from their seats.

"Mother has returned. And she has a solution to this whole ordeal."

The entire family followed Bracken through the kitchen and out onto the back patio. Standing in the yard beyond the edge of the deck was the Fairy Queen. With her were all the fairy angels, dozens of minor fairies, and all the non-human residents of Fablehaven that had access to the yard.

"Good morning, everybody," said the Fairy Queen, as the family approached the Fairy Queen and her crowd.

As the family proceeded to greet the Fairy Queen, the minor fairies all flew over towards Kendra and began to swarm around her.

"I guess some things are still the same around here," said Kendra, watching as fairies zipped back and forth in front of her face.

"Fear not," said the Fairy Queen. "For I have in fact come up with a solution for this whole situation."

Kendra and Seth felt as both of their hearts skipped a beat.

"Really?" exclaimed Seth. "Err.. what exactly do you mean?"

"As you all know, Kendra is my handmaiden. And in a sense, the lady I chose to be my handmaiden will one day blossom into a respectable figure among the fairies. However, there is a lack of order to all this. And with Kendra's coming of age, it has left the fairies confused."

"So what are you going to do?" asked Kendra.

"I think the best solution would be to induct you. Into the royal fairy family."

"Induct Kendra?" gasped Grandpa.

Seth's mouth dropped open. "Holy..."

"I was reluctant to go through with this at first," said the Fairy Queen. "But by assigning a proper royal title to Kendra, as opposed to having her be my handmaiden, the fairies will go back to accepting me as their queen."

"What would Kendra's title even be?" asked Ingrid.

"Well, it can't be a princess, because she is not a child of my own, nor would I want to remove her from her current family. Instead, I will induct her as the first fairy duchess."

"A duchess?" muttered Kendra, who could barely believe what she was hearing. "I'm going to become a _duchess_?"

"If that's all right with you," said the Fairy Queen. "It would simply be a title. You'd have no real duties or obligations to fulfill. It's just to show the other fairies that you do have a position among the royal family, but not one that demands leadership."

"This is almost getting to be too much," said Grandma.

"The whole point of this induction is to make it so that things _can_ get back to normal," said Bright.

"At least to what passes as _normal_ around here," said Warren.

"Shouldn't I get changed?" asked Kendra, looking down at her shirt and jeans. "These clothes are just something I threw on."

"It honestly doesn't matter too much," said the Fairy Queen. "This is about _you_ , not what you happen to be wearing. I can officially induct you right here and now. A proper inauguration ceremony can happen later, after you've settled in."

"Okay," said Kendra. "I guess we can try it."

"Oh, this is gonna be so awesome!" exclaimed Ingrid. "My own sister is going to become a fairy duchess! At first it was crazy getting a sister who was fairykind, but now? Kendra, isn't this amazing?"

Kendra smiled. "You know something, you're right! I'm about to become a fairy duchess, and I've been nothing but skeptical ever since the Fairy Queen showed up. And that's enough. Your majesty, I'm ready to go through with the induction."

"Great," said the Fairy Queen. "Do you mind getting your crown first?"

"I'll get it," said Ingrid. "I'll be right back!"

Ingrid then darted back towards the house and went inside.

The rest of the family began chatting to one another. Though it was too hard to really listen in on any one conversation, Kendra could hear that they were all discussing her potential future and possible concerns for her position as a duchess.

Kendra cleared her throat. "I think everyone's kind of making a mountain out of a molehill here. The Fairy Queen has implied that this position will be little more than a title. Isn't that right, your majesty?"

The Fairy Queen nodded. "Yes. But you will still be an important figure to fairies everywhere. And that is the most important facet of your position as my handmaiden that I hope your new role as a fairy duchess manages to retain."

A moment later, Ingrid returned to the yard, holding Kendra's tiara in her hand. Brillia accepted it from her.

"Thank you, Ingrid," said the Fairy Queen. "Kendra, would you please stand before me?"

The entire crowd, with the exception of Kendra and the Fairy Queen, all stepped back several paces. Now that they had some space, Kendra walked up in front of the Fairy Queen.

"Kneel before me."

Kendra nodded, the bent down in front of the Fairy Queen on her knees.

Everyone watched as a long, glistening sword materialized in the Fairy Queen's hands. Kendra recognized the sword as Elegance. She had last seen it at a previous ceremony, where she was to be dubbed the new Fairy Queen after the true one had disappeared. However, she had declined the title at the time.

"I, Sylvia, Queen of the Fairies, do hereby dub my handmaiden, Kendra May Sorenson, to be my sworn duchess."

Kendra glanced up at the Fairy Queen, as she lifted Elegance up over her head. Deep within her chest, Kendra could feel her heart pounding away furiously. She was so nervous. So many people were watching her. What if she did something wrong? But how would that even be possible? She didn't have to do anything but remain still.

"Kendra!" snapped Bracken in a loud whisper. "Close your eyes!"

Kendra shut her eyes. She then felt as the Fairy Queen placed the side of Elegance upon her right shoulder. She then removed it and set it down on her left shoulder.

"Brillia," the tiara," said the Queen, pulling Elegance away. Although her eyes were still closed. Kendra could hear Brillia's footsteps approaching. A moment later, Kendra could feel her tiara being placed upon her scalp.

"Congratulations. You may open your eyes."

There was an eruption of cheering among the crowd, as Kendra began to stand up.

"Way to go!" exclaimed Seth.

"We're so proud of you!" said Mrs. Sorenson.

"You're really a duchess!" blurted Clover.

Suddenly, Kendra's entire body began to feel all tingly. She closed her eyes and pressed a hand against her face.

"Kendra!" said Grandma. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"Is something wrong?" asked Bravia.

"I feel really weird!" said Kendra, as she collapsed frontward onto the grass. "What's happening to me?"

Kendra began to feel as though her body was undergoing some sort of transformation.

"Kendra's changing!" cried Seth, watching as her body began to change shape.

"What'd you do to her?" gasped Mr. Sorenson.

"This isn't my doing, I swear!" cried the Fairy Queen.

"Whatever you did to Kendra, fix it!" snapped Mrs. Sorenson.

Seth watched as Kendra's limbs grew longer, and her body began to take on the shape of a horse. Within seconds, she had undergone a transformation. She was now a pink unicorn, and sported both a mane and tail that were colored like a rainbow.

"KENDRA!" exclaimed everyone.

"What's happening to me?" muttered Kendra.

"You're a unicorn," said Ingrid. "But... why?"

"A unicorn?"

"I don't believe it," said Grandpa, who was biting down on his finger.

"I didn't ask for _this_!"

"Kendra, this is incredible!" said Bright.

"This is **not** what I had in mind!" snapped Kendra, as she stomped her front hooves against the ground. "I only went through with all this so that I could go back to my regular life!"

"Kendra, this must be how things are meant to be," said the Fairy Queen. "You're changing."

"I don't care! I just want to be myself! I don't want all this crap!" Kendra sighed. "I wish I was normal!"

Suddenly, Kendra's horn began to glow in a vibrant, pink light. To Kendra, it felt like her horn was on fire. Next thing she knew, the world around her had quickly blurred out of existence.


	5. Back to Normal

**Chapter 5: Back to Normal**

The shouting and commotion that had been agonizing Kendra came to an abrupt halt, just as quickly as it had stirred up. Right now, she found that she was lying down in her bed, underneath her covers, as if the whole incident had just been a dream.

Or was it? The whole situation certainly _felt_ real. But it didn't matter now. Kendra was back in her bed, but knew that she still had to face the day ahead of her, whatever it might result in. And from the way her body felt, she was back to being a human.

Kendra tossed the covers off of her head, and discovered an unexpected surprise. She was _not_ in her bed in the attic. Sitting up, Kendra took a look around at the room she was in. She was back in her old room! Her old room in her family's previous house back near Rochester!

"What the hell?" muttered Kendra, as she studied her bedroom. All of her old furniture and belongings were arranged the way that she had last remembered them. Memories were suddenly rushing through her mind at an alarming rate. But her family had moved to Fablehaven over a year ago. They had since sold the house. What was she doing back here?

Kendra got up from her bed and stumbled over to her dresser. She looked into the mirror and nearly did a double take. Just by glancing at her face, Kendra could see that she was now younger. Her face was smoother, and her hair was shorter than it had been just yesterday.

"What's happened to me?" asked Kendra. She walked over to her desk and looked at the calendar that had been pinned to the bulletin board above it. The current month that was being displayed was June, not October.

"What day is it?" she asked, as she skimmed through the pages of the calendar, then stopped on October. Kendra was quick to notice that October 13th, which was today's date, fell on a Friday according to the calendar. However, as far as Kendra was concerned, today was supposed to be a Monday.

Kendra pulled the entire calendar off the wall and closed it. Looking at the front cover, Kendra saw that the year on the calendar was from three years ago.

Confused, Kendra picked up the phone that was on her nighttable. With the digital display now lit up, Kendra saw that the current date read Sunday, June 11th. If this was anything to go on, it meant that the date on the phone matched the calendar.

What was going on? Kendra had celebrated her birthday only yesterday. In October. And now her phone was showing that it was June? Her phone had never been wrong before. Be it her current phone or her older one.

Kendra set the phone down and took a good look at herself in the mirror. Her younger self, anyway. "Oh my god! It can't really be three years in that past! It's like I've gone back in time!"

Kendra opened up the door to her bedroom, only to find the second floor hallway of her old house on the other side.

"Mom?" shouted Kendra. "Dad? Seth? Is anyone else here?"

Kendra scurried down the hall to her parents' room and entered it. Although the room was tidy, no one was inside. She closed the door and went back down the hallway.

"Seth?" asked Kendra, as she walked over to her brother's bedroom. "Seth, are you here?"

Kendra opened up the door to Seth's bedroom and went inside.

Snoozing away on the bed in his old bedroom, Kendra immediately noticed just how much younger Seth currently was. If her calendar was to anything to go by, it meant that both she and Seth were now three years younger than they had previously been. Looking at Seth, Kendra could tell that puberty had yet to manifest within her younger brother.

"Seth!" shrieked Kendra, as she set her hand down upon her brother's shoulder and proceeded to shake him. "Seth, wake up!"

Irritated by the sudden tremble that his body was being subjected to, Seth opened up his eyes to see Kendra at his side, shaking his shoulder. To Seth, Kendra appeared to look different. Her hair was shorter and styled differently, and her face seemed off.

"Kendra!" snapped Seth, as he slapped Kendra's arm with his free hand. "What are you doing?"

"Seth," said Kendra, pulling her arm back. "Where are we?"

"We're in my... _old room_?" said Seth, sounding confused. Seth immediately noticed that they were _not_ in his bedroom at Fablehaven. This was his room from their house back near Rochester.

"Seth, get out of bed."

Unable to think of a response, Seth slipped out from under his sheets and set his bare feet down onto his bedside carpet. He looked up at Kendra. She was somehow taller than he was right now.

"Kendra..." said Seth wearily, as he glanced into his mirror and saw the reflection of his younger self. "What's going on!?"

"I don't know! But somehow, we've gone back in time three years! And on top of that, we've de-aged accordingly."

"This is _insane_ , Kendra! This can't be real, can it? I mean, how did this even happen?"

"I don't know! Maybe somebody messed with the Chronometer."

"When did that happen?"

"Beats me!" exclaimed Kendra. "I don't remember doing _anything_ with the Chronometer!"

Seth looked around at the way his old room had been been arranged, then up at his sister again. "Kendra, think. How did we get here?"

"I just woke up a few minutes ago, and I was in my old room."

"Ditto," said Seth. "And before that?"

"Last thing I remember was... I had turned into a unicorn, back at Fablehaven."

"You're right. That seemed like such a blur. That didn't actually happen, did it?"

"It felt so real, though."

"So, how exactly did we end up back in time, in our old house?"

"When I became a unicorn, I remember feeling all tense and nervous inside."

"Yeah, everyone was freaking out!" said Seth. "At least now you're back to normal."

"I said something. That was it! I said I wished I was normal! When I said that, my horn began to feel strange. The next thing I remember was waking up a few minutes ago."

"Wait, wait, wait," said Seth. "You became a unicorn. Then you made a wish to be normal. And now you're human again. Do you think somebody actually granted your wish, somehow?"

"But, how? And why are we younger, too?"

"I don't know, but this is creeping me out," said Seth, as he glanced at the Spider-Man calendar that was hanging from his wall. "So not only are we three years in the past, but it's June, too?"

"Yeah, June 11th."

"So as a unicorn, you made this wish to be normal. And suppose it somehow actually came true."

"Seth, unicorns can't grant wishes."

"Let's pretend it happened. Because right after you made the wish, we went back in time three years! Why would the wish not just turn you back into a human and leave it at that? Why would it also send us back three years?

Kendra's face lit up. "Because it's _been_ three years. It was three years ago that I became fairykind. I _wished_ to be normal, so it regressed me back to when I actually _was_ still normal."

Seth's jaw dropped. "That's crazy. So why am I here, too? Do you think anyone else is going through this same _Déjà_ vu?"

"I checked on Mom and Dad, and they weren't in their room."

"Maybe they're downstairs."

Kendra nodded. She and Seth then left the room and walked down the hallway to the stairs. Suddenly being back in their old house after over a year felt fairly disorienting to both of the siblings as they made their way down to the first floor.

"There's no sign of them in the kitchen," said Seth, as he walked through the kitchen and into the dining room.

"Dad's SUV is gone, too," said Kendra, as she glanced out the front door window and noticed that her father's vehicle was missing from the driveway.

"I'm calling them right now," said Seth, as he picked up the kitchen phone. "They must be so confused."

Seth went ahead and dialed his mother's cell phone. After a few rings, someone picked up.

"Hello?" came Mrs. Sorenson's voice from the other line.

"Mom!" cried Seth, as he set the phone down on the counter and pressed the speaker button.

"Oh, hi Seth. Is everything okay?"

"Does everything _seem_ okay?" asked Kendra.

"I thought it was," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Is something the matter?"

"Where are you, even?"

"We're driving to the airport."

"And where are you going?" asked Seth.

"We're taking a flight from Rochester to New York," replied Mrs. Sorenson, sounding rather nonchalant. "And from there, we're taking a plane to Copenhagen."

"Copenhagen?" asked Kendra, who could recall the relevance of the Danish city from some point in the past. "Wait a minute, are you and Dad going on that European cruise?"

"Uh, _yes_. What is the problem here?"

"Do you not remember?" asked Seth.

"Scott, the kids are acting kinda strange," said Mrs. Sorenson, who had not been speaking directly into the phone. "Look, I know you two really wanted to come, but it wasn't something we had control over. Maybe, when we get back, we can take you kids somewhere. Like Lake Ontario, Darien Lake, or Niagara Falls."

"Mom, there's more to it than that."

"I'm sorry that none of our friends or relatives were able to look after you, so you'll just have to manage on your own. If you need anything, there's a list of phone numbers I left you. There's lots of food in the house, and we left you some money, so you should be fine."

"It's like she doesn't remember a thing," said Seth, whispering to Kendra.

"I know," replied Kendra, "Mom. Fablehaven!"

"Fable-what?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"You know, the preserve?"

"Scott, do you know what Fable... what did you say it was, Kendra?"

"Never mind," said Kendra. "The whole cruise thing kind of slipped our mind."

"You two were making a big fuss about it last night."

"Yeah, I remember," said Seth, knowing full well that he was lying. "I think we just slept in and forgot."

"I'm sorry if you got confused. But I thought your father and I were pretty clear. We kept saying we'd be leaving on Sunday."

"You're right," said Kendra. "Our mistake. Uhh... have a great time."

"Thank you. And Mrs. Montgomery will be checking in on you, so try to behave."

"Ookay," said Seth. "Will do. Bye, Mom."

"Yeah, bye," chimed in Kendra.

"Bye," said Mrs. Sorenson, as she hung up.

"Seth, what is going on?" asked Kendra, as she set the phone headset back down into its cradle.

"It's like they don't remember a thing," replied Seth. "But we do."

"This is the exact day that Mom and Dad departed for Europe to go on that cruise."

"Except last time, we got taken to Fablehaven, instead of being left on our own. But why?"

"Mom said that she couldn't find anybody who could look after us. And somehow, that now includes Grandpa."

"So why has that changed?"

"Oh no," said Kendra. "This really _was_ my wish. I wished to be normal. And not only did I turn back time, but somehow I've manipulated Grandpa into not inviting us to Fablehaven. And if I never get to Fablehaven, I'll never be able to become fairykind like I did before!"

"If that's the case, everything that we've gone through since we first arrived at Fablehaven has been undone!"

"Oh god," said Kendra smacking her hand against her forehead. "I really screwed up."

"Maybe there's a way to undo your wish?" asked Seth.

"Seth, in case you haven't noticed, I'm no longer a unicorn! I don't have _any_ powers now! I'm back to being boring, ordinary Kendra."

Kendra sat down in a seat at the kitchen table and lowered her face into her hands.

"Just try it anyway. Wish to be a unicorn again!"

Kendra huffed, then lifted her head up. "Okay, I'll try it. I wish I was a unicorn again!"

Kendra and Seth both waited on baited breath. Nothing appeared to be happening.

"This is hopeless," said Kendra.

"Grandpa and Grandma!" exclaimed Seth. "Let's just call them and explain everything!"

"If they have zero memory of the past three years, that's going to be a _lot_ of explaining to do. Also, come to think of it, Grandma's currently a chicken."

"You're right. That means Warren is still catatonic, Bracken is a prisoner in Living Mirage, Raxtus and the wyverns are unhappy, and Ingrid is living on the streets."

"Don't remind me," said Kendra, dreading the thought of her family. "That means the Sphinx and the Society are still at large."

"Hey, we got through everything the first time, didn't we? And now we know what to look out for if we have to experience it all again! We know who to trust and who not to trust. Like Gavin."

"Seth, that's ridiculous! I can't go through with all of that chaos a second time! We can't relive everything! What if something works out differently? Everything would feel like such a huge gambit!"

"You got a better idea, Kendra? In case you forgot, this whole ordeal is _your_ fault, Miss Wishy-Washy!"

"You're not helping, Seth breath!"

"Why can't you come up with your own insult, Kendrucky Fried Chicken?"

"I'd have to wash your ears out with soap if I did."

Seth huffed. "Isn't there an easier way to get everything back to the way it's supposed to be?"

"Not without me becoming a unicorn. And if wishing is out of the question, we may have to go through with this the hard way."

"Wait a minute," said Seth, as his face lit up. Who says you need to be a unicorn to have your wish granted?"

"What are you getting at?" asked Kendra.

"The instruments of eternal power! They're still around at this point! And we know where they are!"

Kendra took a moment to absorb what Seth had said. "You've got a point. The instruments are in their vaults now, because we're currently at a point _before_ they got lost when the Fairy Queen fought Murdred."

"So let's tell Grandpa everything we know about the instruments! He knew about the instruments even before the tome was discovered! You think he'll believe us?"

"It'd be too uncanny for our claim to be hyperbole to him. Still, everything we could tell him about the future and what we've learned would blow him away."

"All I care about is getting the instruments and forming the Omega Star," said Seth.

A thought suddenly hit Kendra like a ton of bricks. "Oh no."

"What?"

"We don't have the tome! All of the precise information on reaching the instruments was in it! Not to mention all the hullabaloo Trask had to go through to discover the whereabouts of the Accelerizer! And we don't have the fairies or dragons on our side! And I'm not fairykind anymore, so I wouldn't even be able to so much as translate the tome."

Seth sighed. "And the tome itself is still in Living Mirage. Which we don't even have access to, even if we know where it is. We're running out of options, here."

"We need to call Grandpa, then," said Kendra. "Even if he can't fix this mess, right now he's the only one who can help us."

Kendra picked up the phone headset from the cradle. "I still remember the number for the house at Fablehaven. At least some things haven't changed."

Kendra proceeded to dial the number which she had memorized from living at Fablehaven. Even though she saved most numbers to her phone, Kendra made a habit of remembering important numbers in her head in the event of an emergency.

As a ringtone echoed through the earpiece, Kendra pressed the speaker button and set the phone down on the counter.

"What if he doesn't answer?" asked Seth.

"We'll try again later. I can't think of any reason he wouldn't be home today, even if he's not expecting us."

"Hello?" came the voice of an older woman through the phone. Whoever she was, it wasn't Grandma.

"Uh, hi," said Kendra, wondering if she had dialed the correct number. "My name is Kendra Sorenson, and I'm calling to see if my grandfather, Stan, is here."

"Oh yes, Kendra. Stan has told me about you. My name is Lena. I'm the housekeeper."

The moment they heard the naiad's name, Kendra and Seth were both beside themselves. They had all but forgotten what her voice had sounded like.

"She's still alive!" gasped Seth in a whisper, his heart pounding away uncontrollably.

"Lena, we need to speak to Stan right away," said Seth.

"Is this Seth?" asked Lena.

"This is a matter of life and death!" shrieked Kendra. "Please, let us speak to our Grandfather if he's home!"

"Okay. He's in the other room. I'll go and get him."

The kids waited in suspense while Lena was gone from the phone. As they could not see her, they could only imagine that she was trying to locate Grandpa. The very thought of Lena still being alive was highly unnerving. Not only had she died two years in the past from Kendra and Seth's point of view, but a year before that, she had been admitted back to the naiads in the pond. Of course, that same day was now over a week into the future.

"Hello?" came Grandpa's voice through the phone. "Kendra and Seth?"

"Grandpa!" gasped both Kendra and Seth in unison.

"What is it?"

"Grandpa, you're not going to believe this," said Kendra. "But we have a **lot** that we need to tell you."

"You do?" asked Grandpa, who sounded rather uninterested in what his grandchildren had to say.

"It's complicated," said Seth. "We know too much."

"Well, try not to make things too complicated. I can't talk to you all day."

"Where do I begin?" asked Kendra. "Your home is actually a hidden preserve called Fablehaven. Grandma Sorenson is a chicken. A witch named Muriel Taggart is living on your property in an ivy shack. Your cousin Warren is catatonic-"

"How do you **know** this?" gasped Grandpa, who sounded as though he was hyperventilating.

"We need to have a _long_ talk," said Seth.

"Understood. This can't just be a coincidence. I think you two need to come to Fablehaven right away."


	6. A Mandatory Vacation

**Chapter 6: A Mandatory Vacation**

"Here you go," said Kendra, handing over a small wad of dollar bills to the driver in the front seat of the taxi.

"Thank you," said the cabbie, as he got out of the car. Kendra and Seth then got out of the back seat and stepped onto the sidewalk that ran along the front entrance to one of the terminals at Greater Rochester International Airport.

"Here are your bags," said the cabbie, as he removed two suitcases from the trunk of his car and set them down on the sidewalk next to Kendra and Seth.

"Thanks a lot," said Seth. The cabbie then waved farewell to him and Kendra, as he shut the trunk of the taxi, got back into the vehicle and drove off.

"He dropped us off near the gate we want," said Kendra, as she and Seth proceeded to tow their wheeled suitcases through a pair of sliding doors and into the terminal.

"At least Grandpa was nice enough to have Trask buy our tickets for us in advance," said Seth.

"I didn't feel comfortable scaring Grandpa like that," said Kendra, as she and Seth walked up between several rows of arranged stanchions that led to a counter, standing at the end of a small line of people that had formed ahead of them. "As far as he's concerned, we know far too much information."

"Man, everything's going to feel so weird," said Seth. "But look at the bright side. We know how everything plays out. We know who to trust, and who not to. We can avert the whole Zzyzx incident by not allowing the Sphinx's plans to play out!"

"Hopefully, there's a way for me to become fairykind. But when it first happened, a lot of it boiled down to dumb luck. The rest of you were in serious danger. Muriel and her demons almost killed you!"

"Excuse me," said a woman, who had lined up behind Kendra and Seth. The two of them turned back and saw a middle-aged woman giving them the blankest look. "What are you talking about? Sphinxes and demons trying to kill you?"

"Well..." began Kendra.

"Err, it's just the sequel for a new video game that we're going to play," said Seth.

"It sounds like you're pretty excited about this game," said the woman. "If you ask me, what you've described sounds like it might actually make for a fun book."

"Yeah," said Kendra. "The plot can feel pretty realistic."

Once they had arrived at the front of the line, a woman who was at the counter signaled for Kendra and Seth to come over to her. They proceeded to tell the woman all of the information that Grandpa had provided them with.

"Okay, Kendra and Seth Sorenson," said the agent. "Ages 13 and 11. The two of you are unaccompanied minors. But this is a direct flight to New York City, so no problems here. If you would just place your luggage on the scale one at a time, I'll weigh them and have them loaded onto your flight."

After the agent weighed and tagged Kendra and Seth's bags, then sent them away on a conveyor belt, she presented the two of them with their boarding passes.

"Seth, we've got to keep our mouth shut," said Kendra, as they walked away from the counter. "That woman behind us was really nosy."

"It's none of her business," replied Seth. "What does she care? She'll never know the truth anyway."

"Still, we need to be more careful. We're back in a time when the society is still at large. Who knows if they might be keeping tabs? If not on us, then on Grandpa or someone like Trask?"

"You've got a point," said Seth. "I guess I never even considered that."

"Look, the sooner we can find a way to fix this mess, the better."

"I still don't get how we're the only ones who still remember everything."

"Hey, you think we'll run into Mom and Dad at this place?" asked Seth, as they approached the security checkpoint.

"I doubt it," said Kendra. "We spoke to Mom over an hour ago, and she and Dad were already at the airport then. I'm pretty sure they've already boarded their flight."

"I just hope we don't run into Miss Nosypants again."

Fortunately, for the remainder of time that Kendra and Seth spent going through security and waiting to board their plane, they did not run into their parents, or the woman from the line. Eventually, they were able to board their plane.

The flight itself was actually fairly short, with the plane only being up in the air for less than an hour. Kendra and Seth had actually spent more time going through the airport than the entire duration of their flight. Not wanting to draw any more unwanted attention, they had refrained from talking about anything to do with time travel or the magical world that they had grown accustomed to.

Still, Seth found himself missing certain aspects of his life he felt that he had taken for granted. Who needed to take a plane, when one had the Translocator? Even a ride on Skyfrost would've been more efficient. But alas, the Translocator was still hidden within the Dreamstone, while Skyfrost, along with Firesquall, was currently living a life of hiding from Revlogg in Cloud Canyon.

Shortly after the plane had landed at LaGuardia Airport, Kendra and Seth were able to pass through a jet bridge and into a terminal. From there, they found the baggage claim, where their suitcases were revolving around on a luggage carousel.

"Grandpa said that Dale was to meet us somewhere around here," said Kendra, looking around the front of the terminal.

"At least we know what he looks like," said Seth.

"Don't know if we can say the same for him. Unless Grandpa showed him pictures of us first."

As they studied the many people who were waiting around in the general area, Kendra and Seth spotted Dale. He was leaning against a wall, holding up a sign in his hands that read "SORENSON".

"Dale," said Kendra, waving to her cousin as she and Seth approached him.

Dale took a good look at Kendra and Seth, took in a deep breath, then extended his hand.

"It's nice to meet you," said Dale, sounding somewhat hesitant, given the tone of his voice, as he shook Kendra's hand, followed by Seth. "I'm Dale Burgess. But I got the impression that you two already knew that."

"Yeah..." said Seth.

"You can't tell me too much. At least, not yet. We need to get you two to your grandfather right away. "I'll take your bags if you'd like."

The kids agreed to his offer, so Dale grasped the handles of Kendra and Seth's suitcases, one in each hand. Kendra and Seth followed Dale, who proceeded to haul the suitcases out of the terminal and across the parking lot. After passing a few rows of cars, Dale stopped in front of one that Kendra and Seth recognized. It was the same sedan that Dale had always owned.

Dale loaded the suitcases into the trunk and got into the driver's seat. Seth sat in the passenger seat, leaving Kendra to herself in the back.

"Dale," said Seth, once Dale was driving around through the parking lot. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"Sorry. But I'd rather save being weirded out any further until we arrive at Fablehaven."

From what Kendra could gather, Dale sounded fairly perturbed. Judging from his mood, he seemed to be fairly unhappy. Dale was usually quiet, but he hadn't sounded this glum in ages.

At that moment, it hit Kendra. Warren! Dale was coping with inner turmoil, due to the fact that Warren was currently trapped in his catatonic stupor. Once his brother had been restored, Dale seemed to be always be much happier than he had been before. But this was the old Dale. The one who was stuck looking after his helpless brother.

"Dale," said Kendra. "Can we speak about Warren?"

Dale immediately floored the brake pedal, bringing the car to a sudden halt in the middle of the street.

"You know about him, don't you?" asked Dale, who began to drive off, no doubt due to the car horns that were honking from the rear.

"Dale, we know how to help him," said Seth.

Dale sighed. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"But, Dale!" said Kendra.

"I'm sorry. But this whole situation is just too weird for me. You kids, despite being Stan's grandchildren, have no association with Fablehaven. And today, you call him up, giving away too much information that you simply should not know."

"We understand," said Seth. To be fair, from Dale's perspective, the two siblings were complete strangers to him.

"Look, if you really can help Warren, I'll give you anything you ask for."

"That's the thing," said Kendra. "We know _how_ to cure Warren. But the real issue is getting a hold of the cure. It's something we simply do not have and cannot get our hands on easily."

"It figures. I knew it was too good to be true."

"We'll tell you and our grandfather everything once we get back to Fablehaven," said Seth.

"And Lena," said Dale. "And shouldn't this be your first visit?"

The remainder of the trip was actually fairly quiet. Dale asked no more questions about Kendra and Seth's secrets, nor did they make any more bold claims. The only other time they really spoke was when they pulled over to get burgers at a drive-through for lunch, and Dale had asked for their orders.

After what felt like an unusually long car ride, despite having endured it several times in the past, the kids and Dale had passed through the front gate at Fablehaven, then continued down the driveway.

Soon the main house had come into view. However, it looked a fair bit different and older than the house that Kendra and Seth were used to. It took a moment for things to click in, before Kendra remembered that the house that was there right now had later been destroyed by Graulus, and a newer, albeit similar house, had been reconstructed in its place by the brownies.

Dale pulled up in front of the garage and got out of the car, prompting Kendra and Seth to follow his lead. He then removed their suitcases from the trunk and proceeded to carry them across the grass towards the front porch of the house.

As they passed by the garden, Kendra was quick to realize that the birds and insects that were frolicking around were paying absolutely no heed to her. Except they weren't actually birds and insects. These were fairies! But of course, she no longer had her fairykind abilities, meaning that she was no longer able to see the fairies for what they truly were. However, a few of them proceeded to fly up towards Seth and opted to cling to him.

"Seth!" said Kendra in a whisper, not wanting to draw Dale's attention. "The fairies are attracted to you!"

"You don't say," said Seth. "But why?"

"Not only that, but I..."

"What's going on?" asked Dale, who turned his head back, only to drop his jaw in amazement. "What have you done with the fairies?"

"We can explain!" cried Kendra. Could they really? She and Seth had gone back in time to before Kendra had obtained her fairykind status. And it would be years before Seth would become an angel.

"The fairies have _never_ been like this around humans," said Dale, as he let go of the suitcases and backed away onto the porch.

As Dale proceeded to open the front door, Kendra and Seth grabbed their suitcases and brought them inside, following Dale's lead. Waiting for them in the foyer were Grandpa and Lena.

Kendra and Seth stared at Lena in amazement. She was just as they had first known her. The years had taken their toll on her body, with white strands of hair and wrinkles scattered across her face and the backs of her hands. She was not the youthful naiad they had last interacted with during the events of the shadow plague.

"Kendra," said Grandpa. "Seth. It's good to see you two again. This woman here is my housekeeper, Lena."

"It is a pleasure to finally meet the two of you," said Lena, flashing a smile.

"We know," said Kendra. "She's a naiad."

Grandpa, Dale and Lena all gazed at Kendra, looking completely speechless.

"We know a lot," said Seth.

"But, how?" asked Dale.

"Yes," said Grandpa. "Please tell us."

Kendra sighed. "You're not going to believe us. But... we're from the future."

Grandpa and Dale both stared at Kendra blankly. Lena, however, rolled her eyes.

"That's impossible," said Dale. "The ability of time travel is legendary at best. Nothing you kids would have access to."

"Not to mention, you two don't look a day older than when I saw you at the Larsens' funeral."

"Grandpa and Grandma Larsen?" asked Seth. "They're not even dead! They faked their deaths with stingbulbs! They're working as spies at Living Mirage. That's the fifth hidden preserve, in case you were wondering!"

"SETH!" shrieked Kendra. "Why are you telling them all this?"

Grandpa held a hand up to his heart. "You're pulling my leg. This can't all be true, can it?"

"They were right about the other things," said Lena. "Like what's happened to Ruth and Warren."

"Where are they?" asked Kendra. "Where are Grandma and Warren?"

Grandpa sighed. "Your grandmother is in a cage, up in the attic. Warren should be at his cabin."

"Please," said Seth. "Let us see them."

Grandpa let out another sigh. "All right. Lena, please bring Ruth down from the attic. Dale, go find Warren and bring him here."

"Will do," said Lena, as she made her way up the stairs to the second floor of the house. Likewise, Dale went back out through the front door.

"As much as I'd like to welcome you two to my home, I get the impression that you two are already fairly well acquainted with this place. Would you like something to drink?"

"Sure," said Seth. Kendra nodded in response.

Grandpa went into the kitchen and headed straight for the refrigerator. He pulled out a pitcher, which Kendra and Seth immediately recognized as the one that had been a vessel for magical milk. He poured the milk into two of the glasses and presented them to Kendra and Seth.

"I trust you know what this is for," said Grandpa, as Kendra and Seth each accepted a glass from him. As the two of them downed their glasses, Lena stepped into the kitchen, holding a hen in her arms. Only this was no ordinary chicken. It was Grandma, currently trapped in her "Goldilocks" form.

"Grandma," said Kendra, as she proceeded to stroke her chicken-turned grandmother's smooth, feathered body.

Grandma then turned her head towards Seth and nudged his outstretched hand.

"Grandma," said Seth. "It's good to see you."

"How do you know all this?" asked Lena. "How can you be from the future?"

"It's quite complicated," replied Kendra. "But the thing is, if we tell you how we arrived at this point the first time around, we might end up creating a paradox wherein we do not end up with the same result. We need to let things play out the way the did the first time. Except for the action that brought us back here."

"But all this knowledge you have!" stated Grandpa. ""Why are you telling us all this, if you aren't even actually supposed to know all of this?"

"Because something strange has happened," replied Seth. "Back at the funeral, our mom asked you to look after Kendra and I while she and Dad went on that European cruise. But you declined."

"Well, yes," said Grandpa. "Before today, I was not sold on the idea of having children ignorant of the world of magic coming to stay at this preserve for two weeks. So I turned down her request, and that was the end of that."

"But all of this has happened before," said Kendra. "In a previous timeline. Except then, you ended up agreeing to let Seth and I come here to Fablehaven."

"How did you arrive at this point?" asked Lena. "From the future, you say?"

"I'm afraid to tell you," said Kendra. "I might know a way to get back, but it's very complicated, and requires a lot of things to fall into place. Much of it relies on chance. And right now we don't even have access to things that we'll need in order to start looking."

A moment later, the front door opened up. Dale entered, leading Warren into the foyer by his arm. Warren was back to being an albino, and bore a very blank look on his face.

"Well, here he is," said Dale, shutting the door behind himself.

"Warren..." said Kendra, as she walked up to her cousin and placed a hand upon his arm. Warren did not show any signs of response or acknowledgement.

"No," said Seth, as memories of when Warren had previously been catatonic rushed through his mind. Ideally, Warren would remain stuck this way until someone were to remove the nail from the revenant. And restoring his proper skin color would require use of the Sands of Sanctity. The Warren who stood before them was a far cry from the vibrant, joyous soul that Seth and Kendra had grown accustomed to.

"I want to help them," said Kendra, as she began to cry. "I want to help Grandma. I want to help Warren. And Bracken. And Ingrid. And the dragons. And Stargleam. And Windshear."

"Who are you talking about?" asked Dale.

"All those people we helped," said Seth, as he too began to cry. "All those years of hard work... gone."

"Seth..." said Kendra. "What are we going to do?"

"Kids," said Grandpa. "Please don't cry."

"You don't understand!" bawled Seth. "We've accomplished so much! And now it's all been for nothing!"

"I'm sorry!" sobbed Kendra. "I'm such an idiot! I ruined everything! I didn't want any of this! I just want to go back to the way things were!"

At that moment, Seth could feel his angel wings suddenly sprouting out from his backside.

"What the hell?" shrieked Dale.

"Seth!" gasped Kendra. "But... how?"

"Not another chicken curse, please!" muttered Grandpa.

Before Seth could question the presence of his wings, they began to glow brilliantly.

"What's going on?" asked Lena.

Seth's wings emitted a blinding flash. Once it faded, Kendra and Seth saw that world around them had inexplicably vanished.


	7. Dismissal

**Chapter 7: Dismissal**

Kendra experienced a dizzying sensation, as she seemingly collapsed onto her back. Despite the fall, she did not experience any actual pain. She felt as though her body had been floating within some sort of void.

Opening her eyes, the living room at Fablehaven gradually came into view. She realized that was lying down on one of the couches. What had happened? Had she fainted?

Likewise, Seth had also undergone a similar experience, and found himself to be lying on the living room's other couch. He too felt just as discombobulated and confused as Kendra herself.

"What happened?" asked Kendra, rubbing her head.

"Kendra, are you all right?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

Kendra looked over to her side and saw both her mother, grandmother and Dale standing next to her. Noticeably, Grandma was back to being a human, no longer a chicken.

Seth looked over to his side and could see that his father, grandfather, Ingrid and Warren had all gathered by him. Warren appeared to have his normal body coloration and was not an albino.

"You're back!" gasped Kendra.

"We're back?" asked Warren. "What are you talking about? We've been with you the whole time."

"Kendra!" cried Seth, as he sat up and looked around at everyone who was in the room. "What's going on?"

"Don't you remember?" asked Bracken. "Kendra, you transformed into a unicorn just a few moments ago. Your horn started to glow, and you got worked up. Then you transformed back into a human. And for some reason, both you and Seth somehow passed out. So we brought you inside, while the rest of the fairies returned to their regular duties."

"That's not what happened!" exclaimed Kendra.

"Yeah!" said Seth. "Kendra, did you go back, too?"

"We don't know what you're talking about," said Mr. Sorenson.

"You don't get it!" said Kendra. "After Seth and I passed out, we woke up three years in the past! We were back in our old home near Rochester."

"Yeah!" said Seth. It was the day we were supposed to go to Fablehaven, but for some reason, Grandpa had refused to take us in, so Kendra and I had been left at home while Mom and Dad went on that cruise!"

"I find this rather hard to swallow," said Grandma. "You must've just had a daydream or something."

"This was no dream!" blurted Kendra. "It felt so real! Beside, how could both of us have experienced the same dream?"

"I have a theory," said Bracken, holding his head down. "I believe it is for the best if we just address it, rather than withholding information."

"What's that?" asked Seth.

"Kendra, because my mother had inducted you as a duchess, your body underwent a transformation into a unicorn. We honestly did not see that coming. But somehow, you managed to trigger something that regressed you back into a human."

"It was more than just becoming a human again," said Kendra. "When we went back in time, I had lost my fairykind abilities. From what I could tell, I had gone back to just being a regular, ordinary human being."

"I'm afraid that's only too true," said Bracken, shaking his head.

"What are you talking about?"

"After you turned back into a human, us fairies sensed your presence. As it stands now, Kendra, you are no longer a unicorn. In fact you're no longer even fairykind. You are now just an ordinary human."

"NO!" snapped Kendra, who couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're lying!"

"I'm not lying, Kendra. I'm sorry."

Kendra began to feel miserable. She felt as though a part of her had just died inside. Like her most valuable possession had been stolen, with seemingly no chance of getting it back.

"How did this happen, anyway?" asked Ingrid.

"I'm not entirely sure. "But when Kendra did become a unicorn, my kind detected unnatural energy readings emanating from her body. This was a magnitude of raw power that not even my own mother would have been capable of."

"You mean, I actually had incredible power?" asked Kendra.

"Only for a moment," replied Bracken. "However, you said something that caused all of your power to regress. When you said that you wished to be normal, that was precisely when you turned back into a human and passed out. And for some reason, Seth passed out too. But he still seems to be his usual self."

"You mean, I'm still angelkind?" asked Seth.

"It would appear so."

"Hold on!" said Kendra. "What about me? Did I really just grant a wish for myself?"

"I want to say yes. But I'm not entirely sure."

"Harnessing the power to grant wishes is said to be the hardest feat known to anyone, be they mortal or mythical," said Grandpa. "The Omega Star is the only known method capable of granting wishes, and it's proven to be impossible to replicate."

"Then how would it even be possible for Kendra to have granted a wish like she did?" asked Ingrid.

"As a unicorn, Kendra's power was unparalleled. It was only her first horn, but she displayed an unfathomable amount of energy."

"That doesn't add up," said Dale. "Kendra's not even a full-blown fairy. And she's only seventeen. Why would she surpass the Fairy Queen just out of the blue?"

"Kendra is fairykind," replied Bracken. "Or was, anyway. She had powers that made her special. She could become fairyprime. Who's to say what her limits really were, especially once she had been granted the status of duchess?"

"So I'm just back to being a normal human?" asked Kendra.

Bracken nodded.

"Kendra," said Ingrid. "It's not so bad. I'm normal. So are many of the other people in this room. But you're still an amazing person, fairykind or not."

"I know," said Kendra. "But being fairykind made me special. It was something I worked for. I strove to abide by it. And because I was so stupid, I lost everything."

"You're _not_ stupid," said Bracken. "You're one of the smartest people I know. What happened earlier, nobody saw it coming."

"What difference does it make? Now that everything is said and done, I'm no longer fairykind! And it didn't have to be this way!"

"Kendra," said Mr. Sorenson. "We're sorry. You must feel devastated right now."

"There's still something I don't get," said Seth. "Even though we had gone back in time to before Kendra became fairykind, I still had my angelkind abilities. But I wasn't even aware of it for a while. In fact, that's what allowed us to come back to this time. Where we belong."

"Can you explain this whole trip through time thing to us?" asked Grandma. "From start to finish, if you don't mind."

Kendra and Seth went ahead and relayed their experience of how they had awoken in their old home as their younger selves. They then went on to explain that their parents had left them at home, instead of bringing them to Fablehaven. Next, they talked about everything they said to convince Grandpa to let them come, as well as how they had to take an airplane to New York and met up with Dale. Lastly, Seth mentioned that his angel powers were somehow triggered upon seeing how desperate the others were, and seemingly brought himself and Kendra back to the present.

"That sounds like quite an adventure," said Mrs. Sorenson. "That is, if it actually happened."

"It was real, all right!" said Kendra.

"I've never heard of such a thing," said Grandpa. "Be it real or pretend. The fact that both you and your brother experienced it is rather uncanny."

"Well, it _seemed_ real," said Seth. "What I don't get is, how come I retained my angel abilities during all of this?"

"I'm not certain, replied Bracken. "Assuming that this was no fantasy, and truly did happen. But what did happen was that Kendra made a wish for herself to be normal. But not you, Seth. So you weren't affected. Somehow, you retained being angelkind, as well as your memories, when Kendra went back in time. So in a way, you went with her."

"But why?" asked Ingrid. "Kendra's actual wish didn't involve Seth."

Bracken shook his head. "I don't have an answer for that question."

"I'm just grateful to be back after all that," said Kendra. "Had it not been for Seth, I would've had to relive part of my life."

"You're _welcome_ ," said Seth.

"Reliving part of your life?" asked Warren. "You mean like some sort of time loop?"

"As long as we don't end up back in time again and again, I think I'll be okay."

"Not me," said Kendra. "Bracken, have I really lost everything that made me special among the fairies?"

Bracken winced. "Well, to be completely honest, I still see you as the same person you always were. But as for your powers and abilities? They seem to be completely gone."

Kendra shook her head. "Please, Bracken. I need to request an audience with the Fairy Queen."

"Kendra, we haven't given up on you. The whole reason all the other fairies left Fablehaven was so that they could look into possibly finding a way to restore your power. But, if you really do wish to see my mother, then I will take you to see her."

"When can we go?"

"As soon as you're ready. Are you feeling better?"

"I feel fine, physically," replied Kendra. "But emotionally, I'm very cautious. What if things don't work out?"

"Kendra," said Bracken. "No matter what happens, I'll always love you. Everyone else, we'll be off from here."

As the others all bid them farewell, Kendra and Bracken got up, then went upstairs and into Grandpa and Grandma's bedroom. From there, Kendra proceeded to open up the cabinet that was against the far wall. Inside the cabinet on different shelves were several objects of incredible power, including the five artifacts. Kendra proceeded to remove the Translocator from the cabinet, then shut the doors.

"Okay, then," said Kendra, as she twisted the Translocator. "Let's get this over with."

Once Bracken placed a hand upon the Translocator, Kendra twisted it again. Envisioning the castle of the royal fairy family in her mind, Bracken and her soon found themselves being hurled through the very fabric of space.

Kendra opened her eyes, and saw that she and Bracken were now standing within a hallway of the castle. The crystalline walls, floor, arches and ceiling that surrounded them were all glistening with a vibrant glimmer. A long velvet carpet, with an intricate, almost mosaic-like pattern adorned the floor, while tapestries depicting unicorns dotted the walls.

In front of where Kendra and Bracken were standing were a pair of double doors, forged out of what Kendra assumed had to be two enormous amethysts. Facing the doors, Bracken rapped one of them with his hand.

"Mother, may Kendra and I enter?" asked Bracken.

The doors suddenly opened inward, as though they had been triggered automatically.

Bracken entered the room, with Kendra following close behind him. At the far end of the room was the Fairy Queen, sitting on her throne.

As she and Bracken walked towards the Fairy Queen, Kendra noticed that the queen had several books and scrolls, all of which were open and floating in the air in front of her. As they neared her, Kendra got the impression that the Fairy Queen was undoubtedly preoccupied with something.

"What is it?" asked the Fairy Queen, pulling her head up from behind a book once Kendra and Bracken stopped before her.

"Have you had any luck so far, with regards to finding any information on Kendra's... _situation_?" asked Bracken.

"Bracken, I've only been at this for ten minutes," said the Fairy Queen, as the books and scrolls floated down to the floor. On top of that, this is a complete alien problem to us fairies."

"Well, I was thinking. You're the one who guided Kendra into becoming fairykind in the first place. Would it not be possible to somehow provide her with same means to do so again?"

"You mean, create another elixir, and try to repeat what happened the first time so that I'd be inducted as fairykind again?" asked Kendra.

The Fairy Queen shook her head. "Absolutely not! There was a justified purpose for that. You went through all that trouble and took those risks in order to defend Fablehaven. You didn't do it with the intention of becoming fairykind. You did because it was a noble cause. If we attempted to do such a thing again, you would likely only end up killing yourself, because the reasoning for it would not be sincere."

"I get what you're saying," said Bracken. "But isn't there any other way to restore Kendra's power?"

"I don't know. If Kendra really _did_ have the power to grant wishes, then she was in control of a power that surpasses even my own. Stripping Kendra of her own power isn't even something I could've done if I had wanted to."

"Wishes..." said Kendra. "You majesty! I still have my favor! The one you granted to me back when we defeated Murdred!"

"Yes," said the Fairy Queen. "I remember. What are you getting at?"

"Then I know what I'd like for my favor. Make me fairykind again."

"Kendra," said the Fairy Queen, as she shook her head. "I just told you that I cannot do that."

"Yeah, but I thought that you said that for these favors, the reward could be almost anything! Even granting one of us the status of fairy angel."

"Kendra there is a big difference between being a fairy angel and being fairykind. The reason why you, or one of your allies would qualify in becoming a fairy angel is because I've deemed you all worthy, and I have the power to transform you into fairies. The trade-off would be justified. What I can't do is make you fairykind at the drop of the hat. The prerequisite for that is entirely situational. I'm sorry."

"I get it," said Kendra. "You did say there were limits, after all."

"It's not all bad," said the Fairy Queen. "I could still make you a fairy angel. You'd be capable of utilizing all sorts of magic."

Kendra sighed. "I don't know. I don't want to change myself just to make up for something I lost. I just want to get back what I lost in the first place."

"I don't know if that's even possible. I don't have that magnitude of power. It took the strength of many fairies to accomplish that."

"Can you at least try?" asked Bracken. "Maybe if you, I, and the rest of the fairy angels all focus and combine our power, perhaps then we might be able to restore Kendra's fairykind abilities?"

"I don't know. There's no urgency for it. But I suppose we could _try_ it. There'd be no potion involved, so there's no risk of death. Besides, if it will enable Kendra to regain her unicorn form, I feel that she could do great things by having the power to grant wishes. I'd hate to see that power go to waste. I'll go and summon the other fairy angels."

The Fairy Queen raised her hands, which emitted a brilliant flash. Within seconds, Brillia appeared before Kendra and Bracken. Bright appeared immediately after, followed by more and more fairy angels.

Soon a small crowd had gathered in the room, consisting of all the fairy angels that the Fairy Queen had summoned.

"Your majesty," said Opal. "What have you called us all for?"

"I would like to attempt something," replied the Fairy Queen. "I want for all of us to lend Kendra our power. It's only a theory, but perhaps it might be the thing she needs to regain her fairykind status."

"How's that?" asked Bravia.

"Kendra may have stricken away her own abilities. However, she is still to be recognized by her title of fairy duchess. A title that she is deserving of, fairykind or not. As such, I feel that we should attempt to all grant her our power. It's possible that we may be able to restore it if we all try together."

"It seems like a long shot," said Brillia. "However, if this is your decision, then we will abide by it."

"Very well," said the Fairy Queen. "Fairy angels, I ask that we all gather in a circle around Kendra. Kendra, don't worry. This should be painless to you."

The fairies all surrounded Kendra, encompassing her in a circular formation.

"Okay then," said the Fairy Queen. "All of you, lend Kendra your power."

Kendra watched as colorful sparkles shout out of the hands of the fairies that were in front of her. She then experienced a tingling feeling flowing all throughout her entire body. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it did make it difficult for her to focus on anything.

"Okay," said the Fairy Queen, prompting all of the fairies to lower their hands. "Kendra's body must be flowing with energy now. We must now all give her a kiss."

Her body still tingling, Kendra watched as the fairy angels that were within her line of sight approached her. Within seconds, she received kisses on all parts of her face in quick succession.

"I feel funny," said Kendra, her body still tingling inside. Her entire body then began to glow for a moment. Once the glowing faded, the tingling stopped.

"Kendra!" said Clover. "What happened to you?"

Kendra looked down at her arms. Instead of her usual skin tone, she saw that her skin was now in patches of bright, vibrant colors, as though splotches of paint had been thrown on her.

"What's this?" shrieked Kendra, as she rubbed a blue part of one arm with the differently-colored fingers of her other hand. "These colors! They're not coming off!"

"It's all over you," said Brook. "Your face. Your hair."

"I believe I can fix it," said the Fairy Queen. She raised her hands towards Kendra, allowing more white sparkles to flow into her body.

Once the sparkles stopped after a few seconds, Kendra looked down at her arms, and watched as the splotches of color returned to their normal skin tone. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Will Kendra be okay?" asked Bracken.

"She's fine. However, as I feared, we were unable to restore her fairykind abilities. I'm sorry, Kendra. We will look into this further. But for now, as it stands, you will have to remain as an ordinary human."


	8. Powerless

**Chapter 8: Powerless**

In a flash of light, Kendra and Bracken both materialized in Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson's bedroom. The Translocator still in her hands, Kendra reached forward and placed the artifact back into its spot within her grandparents' cabinet.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," said Bracken, as Kendra shut the doors to the cabinet. "My kin have not given up on you, power or no power."

"I know," said Kendra. "I still have a legacy. But what good is it when my actual power is diminished?"

Kendra made her way out of the bedroom and went downstairs to the living room, where the rest of the family was still gathered.

"Any luck?" asked Grandpa.

Bracken shook his head. "Nothing yet. But we're not giving up."

"It's not so bad, Kendra," said Ingrid. "Many of us have been normal our whole lives."

"I wouldn't care about this so much if being fairykind wasn't something that I hadn't earned," huffed Kendra. "It's not important to me because it makes me powerful. It's important to me because I worked so hard for it. And I lost it entirely by mistake."

"Kendra, is there anything we can do for you?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"No..." muttered Kendra, as she glanced at her watch. The time was nine thirty-one. "Great! We're already behind schedule for class, Mom."

"I think you can take it easy for today," said Mrs. Sorenson. "There's been a lot of commotion lately."

"You mean, no class?" asked Seth.

Mrs. Sorenson rolled her eyes. "Yes. You kids can have the day off, I suppose."

"Sweet!"

Warren shook his head. "Not exactly. Your mother may have cancelled your morning routine. But I've still got you kids for the afternoon. Meet me in the backyard after lunch."

"Warren, is that really such a good idea?" asked Bracken. "Marla has a point. Kendra's been through a lot in such a short time. Maybe let her take it easy."

"Don't worry. I've got something planned."

Kendra turned towards Seth, then thought to herself for a moment. He had still retained his angel abilities throughout this whole ordeal. If he was able to bring himself and Kendra back to their proper places in life, why could he not restore her fairykind status? Angel magic had been proven to accomplish things that fairy magic could not. It was worth a shot.

"Seth!" said Kendra. "Why don't you try using your angel powers to restore my fairykind abilities?"

"Kendra, I don't know if that's actually possible," said Bracken.

"What do you mean?" asked Seth.

"Back when you two claimed to have gone back in time. Seth used his angel abilities to bring the two of you back to this reality. Basically, he undid the wish you made that sent you back in the first place. What he didn't do was restore your fairykind abilities."

"I don't understand how I did it, exactly. I just wanted everything to be back to the way it was supposed to be. I wanted everyone to be happy."

"Yes, and you restored everything. _Except_ for your sister being fairykind. That was something that your powers were unable to tend to."

"Bracken's got a point," said Ingrid. "I guess there are some things that even _your_ powers are incapable of accomplishing."

"Hold the phone!" said Seth. "When I brought us back here, it was because I wanted to help everyone else who had yet to receive our help in the past. Like Grandma when she was a chicken, and Warren when he was catatonic. I did not have Kendra on my mind at the time. So it's still possible that I could help her."

"Can you please try it?" asked Kendra.

"All right. I'll give it a shot."

Kendra and Seth stood before one another. Seth closed his eyes and began to focus.

"Seth, do you want some help?" asked Ingrid.

"No thanks, I've got this," said Seth, still concentrating. "Kendra really needs my help, and I'm surrounded by my entire family. Come on! I can do this!"

Everyone watched as a pair of golden wings came bursting out of Seth's backside. He opened his eyes and folded his extended wings inward.

"You did it!" exclaimed Grandma.

"I'm getting better," said Seth. "But it usually only works under extenuating circumstances."

"Go on!" said Bracken. "Help Kendra!"

"All right, all right."

Seth closed his eyes again, allowing his wings to glow. Focusing on Kendra in his mind, Seth envisioned her in her fairyprime form, as well as the unicorn form she had briefly assumed earlier.

"Anything yet?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"No..." said Kendra. "I still feel the same."

"Come on, Seth!" said Ingrid. "You can do it!"

Seth groaned as his wings stopped glowing and he opened his eyes. "It's not working! I tried, but my energy isn't going anywhere!"

Kendra lowered her head. "Thanks for trying, anyway."

"This is worse than we imagined," said Bracken. "If there is a solution, I don't think we're any closer to finding it."

Kendra spent the next few hours alone in the attic. Ingrid was preoccupied with Seth, so Kendra had the room all to herself. The situation had made her very tense. For a moment, she had arguably been the most powerful being on the planet. But had she not been so nervous, not so overwhelmed, she probably wouldn't have blown everything.

There could still be hope, couldn't there? After all, she had what it took to become fairykind in the first place. Perhaps there might be some way of redeeming herself. And besides, she technically was still a fairy duchess. Although she felt kind of hard-pressed to call herself fairy-anything at this point, seeing as how she no longed possessed any fairy attributes.

Eventually, Kendra was called down for lunch. Mrs. Sorenson had prepared a smorgasbord of leftover seafood for lunch. However, Kendra found that she was not very hungry. She had a bowl of clam chowder, but ate each spoonful very slowly.

Kendra did not engage in much conversation with anybody else at the table. By the time she had finished her chowder, the last of what had at first been a warm bowl of soup had ultimately become fairly cool.

Once lunch was finished and everybody had freshened up, Warren led Kendra, Seth and Ingrid out into the backyard.

"Okay, Warren," said Ingrid. "What is it that you felt we should do today?"

"I think Kendra... well, all of us actually, need some time to cool down," replied Warren. "So, instead of giving you kids a harsh workout, I thought we could just go ride around on the dragons for a few hours."

"Really?" asked Seth. "I've got not complaints about that!"

"What about you, Kendra?" asked Ingrid.

Kendra sighed. "Fine. Whatever."

"Kendra, I know you're upset and everything," said Warren. "But you need to get your mind off of what happened. I know it sucks, but you've got to focus on something else for a while."

"You're right. I'll come."

"That's the spirit! You want to ride on Firesquall today? He's pretty fast."

"No thanks," replied Kendra. "Raxtus is fast enough for me."

"Where are the dragons, anyway?" asked Seth, peering over towards the dragons' cave. It appeared to currently be empty.

"They must be flying around right now," said Warren. "I'll signal them."

Warren blew into a whistle, but no sound was heard. It was similar to a dog whistle, except due to magic, it could only be heard by dragons. According to the wyverns, the whistle was very loud, and they requested that it only ever be blown from a distance.

A moment later, Skyfrost and Firesquall came soaring down from the sky and swooped down for a landing in front of the group. Several seconds later, Raxtus and Geminus followed suit. It was at this moment that Kendra realized that the only reason she could even see the dragons for who they were was because she had consumed magical milk today, not because she could do so without it.

"Hey guys," said Skyfrost.

"You feeling better, Kendra?" asked Firesquall.

"We're concerned about you."

Geminus shook her head. "Boys, she's under a lot of pressure right now."

"What was it you guys wanted?" asked Raxtus.

"Is it cool if we fly with you for a bit?" asked Warren. "We're looking to take it easy for a while."

"It's fine with me. You three okay with that?"

Geminus, Skyfrost and Firesquall all nodded.

"All right!" exclaimed Seth, as he darted over to Skyfrost and climbed up onto the wyvern's backside. Likewise, Kendra, Ingrid and Warren got up onto Raxtus, Geminus and Firesquall respectively. "Come on, Skyfrost!"

"Hold on, Seth!" said Skyfrost, as Seth seated himself comfortably onto the wyvern's saddle. "T-minus in three... two... one... Blastoff!"

Like a rocket, Skyfrost immediately shot up into the air. As they rose upward, Seth glanced back down towards the ground and watched as Firesquall followed their lead. Further behind Firesquall were Raxtus and Geminus.

Skyfrost continued to ascend higher and higher, until he and Seth had passed through a layer of clouds. Once they were floating above it, the wyvern finally came to a stop, flapping his wings slowly in order to allow himself to remain airborne.

Firesquall emerged from the clouds almost immediately, and came to a mid-air stop next to Skyfrost.

"No offense, Firesquall, but you were kinda slow today," said Seth.

"You're calling _me_ slow?" balked Firesquall. "I can fly rings around you any day, Seth!"

"This isn't about _me_. This is between you and Skyfrost."

"Seth, Skyfrost only got up here first because he took off first," said Warren. "This wasn't a race."

At that moment, Raxtus and Geminus both arose through the clouds.

"So, who would be faster in a fair race?" asked Seth. "Draco-a-draco."

"What are you guys arguing about?" asked Ingrid.

"Seth wants to know who's faster," said Warren. "Skyfrost or Firesquall."

"It's hard to say, really," said Skyfrost. "Sometimes I'm faster. Sometimes Firesquall's faster."

"It seems to just depend on how we're feeling," said Firesquall.

"No racing, please," said Kendra. "I just want all of us to keep together for now."

"Fine..." sighed Skyfrost.

"I've got nothing against your speed. But the rest of us can't keep up with you two."

The dragons proceeded to soar across the sky in one direction. Kendra watched as Skyfrost and Firesquall, who were at the front of the pack, weaved their way through and around entire banks of clouds. Geminus drifted alongside Raxtus, but Kendra could tell just from the look on Ingrid's face that even she was having a better time than she was.

"Kendra, you've been pretty quiet lately," said Raxtus.

Kendra huffed. "Can you blame me? I just did the most foolish thing in the world today. I had the power to grant wishes! I could've made the world a better place! I could've helped solved all the mysteries and problems of the world."

"It wasn't entirely your fault."

"Actually, it was."

"You didn't know any better. None of us did! Anyone in your position could've made the same exact mistake that you did."

"Is that supposed to make me feel any better? What it all boils down to, is that I did something foolish earlier that I now deeply regret."

"Kendra, there may not be anything we can do at this point to remedy what you did. I know it's frustrating. But life moves on. That's why we're flying around together. To get our minds off of what happened."

"I get what you're saying," said Kendra. "But no matter how much you fly around, it's not going to make me feel any better deep down inside."

The dragons kept on flying onward for a fair amount of time. They had been flying in a westerly direction for the entire duration of their flight. Up ahead in the distance appeared to me more cloud banks.

A thought suddenly popped into Kendra's mind. "Guys!" she shouted, drawing in the attention of her family and friends. The dragons all proceeded to hover in one spot. "Where are we now?"

"Good question," replied Warren. "I bet we're a fair distance from Fablehaven at this point."

"We can't be too far from home," said Raxtus. "How long have we been flying?"

"About half an hour, I'd say," replied Ingrid, looking up from her watch.

"We're fine on time," said Warren. "As long as we're back by dinner, your mom won't make a fuss."

"And where exactly are we right now, then?" asked Kendra.

The four dragons all shook their heads.

"Kendra, you're overreacting," said Seth. "Duchess or not, if you don't want to do anything rash, then you need to chillax and stop telling the rest of us what to do."

"Seth's got a point," said Ingrid. "I know you're in a bad mood, but you're starting to become a real buzzkill."

"Let's just give her some space," said Warren. "Come on, Firesquall!"

Firesquall took off into the distance, prompting Skyfrost to follow his lead.

"Those two are too fast for me, sometimes," said Geminus, as she drifted over next to Raxtus' side.

Meanwhile, Skyfrost proceeded to close in on Firesquall, just as the green wyvern neared a cloud bank. Suddenly, an immense gust of wind began to blow from within the cloud bank, nearly tossing the two wyverns off course.

"Whoa!" gasped Seth, as Skyfrost nearly flipped over with Seth still on his back.

"What's with all this wind?" asked Firesquall, who was also struggling to fight against the intense breeze.

From where Kendra and Ingrid were, they too could feel the breeze, although it felt nowhere near as strong from their current position.

"What's with all this wind?" asked Ingrid. "Is this a tornado?"

"There's no strong wind anywhere beneath us," said Geminus. "It's coming from those clouds up ahead."

Kendra watched as the large cloud bank dissipated. Once enough of the water vapor that had made up the cloud had been blown away, everyone could see the source of the wind; Maelstrom. Floating in the center of where the cloud bank previously stood was the enormous, coppery wyvern. Compared to her, the other dragons were tiny.

"Maelstrom?" gasped Skyfrost and Firesquall, now that the wind had died down.

"Uh... hi," said Warren, sounding extremely nervous. "Nice to see you again, all the way out in the middle of nowhere. What are the odds?"

"At last, I've found you again," said Maelstrom, speaking in a deep voice.

"She... spoke," said Kendra, recounting that Maelstrom previously lacked the ability to speak in English the last time they had encountered her.

"Hi... Maelstrom," said Skyfrost.

" _Aunt_ Maelstrom?" asked Firesquall.

"Something's up," said Seth. "Maelstrom, you can speak English now."

"Indeed I can. It's a skill that I recently acquired, now that I'm no longer providing my services to Ronodin."

"Nobody just _finds_ a translation hex," said Geminus in a whisper. "And a wyvern like her probably isn't too skilled in magic. She's up to something."

"You're probably wondering how exactly I gained this ability," said Maelstrom. "So I'll tell you. Dominera."

"Dominera?" asked Raxtus. Kendra and Seth both felt just as confused as the others upon hearing the name. Apparently none of them had heard the name _Dominera_ before.

"Who's Dominera?" asked Warren.

"She more of a recluse than I thought," said Maelstrom. "Anyway, to answer your question, Dominera is the most powerful dragon of all time."

"Seriously?" asked Seth. "Are you not aware of Navarog?"

"Navarog? He's a has-been! Word is that he was defeated by some lousy _fairies_ of all things. Besides, even he paled in comparison to Dominera. But I'm getting ahead of myself. You see, I'm glad that I found you folks again. I've been searching for you for a while, but I know that you're from the preserve known as Fablehaven, which I know is not too far from here."

"I know it's not easy to find," said Skyfrost. "So what did you want from us?"

Maelstrom chuckled. "What I want... is _you_."

"Us?" asked Firesquall.

"Well not I. Dominera is the one who truly wants you."

"Yeah..." said Warren. "Not happening."

"If you won't come with me, I'll bring you myself."

"Thanks but no thanks!" said Firesquall, as he and Skyfrost both retreated back towards Raxtus and Geminus. "Let's get out of here!"

Maelstrom proceeded to soar after the smaller dragons.

"She's gaining on us!" cried Kendra.

"Fablehaven's too far!" exclaimed Warren. "We'll never make it to safety. Plus, I didn't bring the Translocator!"

Maelstrom swooped overhead, then dropped down in front of the fleeing dragons, blocking their path with her huge body.

"Because you two are my nephews, I'm going to go easy on you," said Maelstrom. She proceeded to open her mouth, then exhaled a yellow gas over towards Skyfrost and Firesquall. Seth tried not to breathe in any of the gas, but it didn't help. He began to feel very weak, almost as though it was hard for him to move any part of his body.

"What's happened?" asked Firesquall.

"No!" cried Kendra, as Maelstrom flew above Skyfrost and Firesquall, her huge body casting a shadow as she passed over them. She then positioned herself so that her talons were directly above the two smaller wyverns.

"Boys!" cried Raxtus. "Get out of the way!"

Raxtus and Geminus flew over towards Skyfrost and Firesquall. However, before they could reach either one of them, Maelstrom lowered her two enormous talons. She grasped both Skyfrost and Seth in one talon, while catching Firesquall and Warren in the other. She then pulled her entire body away from Raxtus and Geminus.

"Let them go!" yelled Kendra.

"And just what are you going to do about it?" asked Maelstrom. "I am far bigger and stronger than all of you put together. You don't stand a chance against me. You wouldn't even be able to catch up."

"You can't do this!" exclaimed Geminus. "It's wrong!"

"I'm not implying that we've come to an agreement. But I'm allowing the rest of you to leave peacefully. I strongly advise you to accept this offer. Farewell."

Maelstrom proceeded to fly off, and was soon flying at a speed much faster than either Raxtus or Geminus could hope to achieve.

"No..." said Kendra, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry," said Raxtus. "There's nothing we can do."


	9. Life Isn't Fairy

**Chapter 9: Life Isn't Fairy**

A feeling of loss and emptiness overwhelmed Kendra, who could do nothing but watch as Maelstrom soared off in the distance with her new captors. Within seconds, it appeared as though Maelstrom had disappeared through a bank of clouds, bringing with her Seth, Warren, Skyfrost and Firesquall.

"No..." said Ingrid. "We can't just let her get away like this! What are we going to do?"

"We can't go after her!" exclaimed Raxtus, "it'd be suicide."

"What can we even do?" asked Kendra, holding back tears. She did not want to hear the inevitable answer.

Geminus sighed. "I don't think there's much we really _can_ do. Even if we _could_ catch up with Maelstrom. Which we can't. She's a huge wyvern, and we're just two puny fairy dragons. We couldn't follow her if we wanted to."

"I guess the only option is to get back to Fablehaven and get help," said Kendra.

"But what about the boys?" asked Ingrid.

"Sorry, Ingrid," said Geminus. "But going after them as we stand now would be a lost cause. We can't win. We need help."

"And what if we can't get help in time?" asked Kendra.

"Kendra, I can't answer that," replied Raxtus. "Come on, let's just head back."

Raxtus and Geminus both turned themselves around, then proceeded to fly off in the opposite direction, heading back from the way they initially came.

"I think this might very well be the worst day of my life," said Kendra. "Not only did I lose my powers, but I also almost banished Seth and myself from this very reality! And now Seth and the others just got abducted by Maelstrom!"

"Kendra, in all fairness, the abduction wasn't your fault. None of us saw it coming."

"Half the reason it happened was because we were just flying around aimlessly. Which Warren had us do only because I screwed up so badly earlier. If I had just kept my cool, I wouldn't be in this mess, and nobody would've been captured. And if anybody _had_ been captured, as a unicorn, I'd have had the power to fix everything!"

"Kendra, don't go beating yourself over the head for all this," said Ingrid. "It's bad that it happened, but you weren't able to see the consequences until it was too late. None of us could. It's not like you deliberately let all of this stuff happen."

"Thanks," said Kendra. "But consoling me isn't going to fix anything."

"Okay, let's just not rant about this anymore until we get back," said Raxtus. "We're all upset over what happened."

The dragons continued onward through the sky for a fair amount of time. Before too long, they proceeded to drop down through the clouds and descended towards the forests that sprawled the land as far as the eye could see.

By the time they were only several hundred feet in the air Kendra was eventually able to make out the main yard of Fablehaven within a clearing of trees, as she was able to recognize the main house and Viola's barn.

Raxtus and Geminus flew down towards the ground as fast as they possibly could. As they neared the yard, they attempted to pull their bodies up in time to come in for a landing upon their talons. However, they both ultimately ended up crashing face first onto the ground.

Although they did not feel the brunt of the crash, Kendra and Ingrid both found themselves being flung off the backs of the dragons as the result of a chain reaction. Kendra was tossed onto her back, landing upon the grass. Thankfully, she experienced no injuries.

"Whoa!" gasped Kendra, as she sat up then pushed herself back onto her feet. "Raxtus! Geminis! Are you two okay? And you, Ingrid?"

"I'm fine," replied Raxtus, as he stood up, revealing that his body had made a minor impression in the soil due to his crash.

"It takes more than a small crash to stop a dragon," chimed in Geminus, now also standing.

"I wouldn't say it was comfortable," said Ingrid. "But I'm not hurt. "Too bad these dragons don't have seat belts."

"Come on, then," said Kendra. "We need to get inside and tell the others. There's no time to waste!"

"Please hurry!" said Raxtus. "I don't like anything that Maelstrom spoke about. Especially that Dominera. Whoever she is."

"We're counting on you," said Geminus. "Our boys are in serious trouble."

"Will do," said Kendra, as she and Ingrid ran over to the front door of the house. Kendra opened the door and the two of them proceeded to walk into the foyer.

"Hello?" shouted Ingrid.

"Back so soon?" came Mrs. Sorenson's voice from another room.

"Everybody, this is an emergency!" exclaimed Kendra, speaking as loudly as she could without actually yelling. "Seth, Warren, Skyfrost and Firesquall have all been kidnapped! Meet us in the living room! This is _not_ a drill!"

As Kendra and Ingrid made their way into the living room, they could hear the footsteps of other individuals rapidly making their way towards the center of the house. Just as Kendra and Ingrid sat down together on one of the couches, their parents entered the room. Both of them appeared to be quite distraught.

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Mr. Sorenson, as he and his wife sat down across from Kendra and Ingrid.

"What happened, even?" asked Grandma, as she and Grandpa entered the living room just a few short seconds after Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson had arrived.

"Is this for real?" asked Bracken, as he stepped into the living room alongside Dale.

"Please," said Grandpa, once everyone in the house was seated. "Explain what exactly happened."

"Well, we were flying around in the sky," began Ingrid.

" _Where_ in the sky?" asked Grandpa.

"I don't know!" noted Kendra. "Somewhere. It was a fair bit away from Fablehaven, to the southwest a bit."

"Okay, you were flying around. Then what?"

"Maelstrom appeared," said Ingrid. Kendra noticed that the others all appeared to be in awe.

"Maelstrom..." said Bracken. "She kidnapped the others?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Ingrid. "She said that she wanted Skyfrost and Firesquall, so she just took them. And since Seth and Warren were on them, she took them too."

"She _what_?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"So Maelstrom is back, and she came for the wyverns?" asked Dale. "How did she even find you?"

"Maelstrom knows where Fablehaven is, roughly," said Grandpa. "She flew Ronodin from here to World's End at one point. So she knew where to go, even if she was unable to bypass the protector spell."

"This doesn't add up," said Grandma. "I thought you said that you made peace with Maelstrom after you defeated Ronodin."

"So we thought," said Kendra. "But Maelstrom wasn't interested in attacking us. Even though she probably could've killed us all. It's not like the last time. Back then, when I became fairyprime, I was able to deal with Maelstrom very easily. But I think she was able to sense that I wasn't powerful today, and took advantage of that."

"Maelstrom..." said Dale, "she's Skyfrost and Firesquall's aunt, is she not? What did she even want from them? Outside of the few who live here at Fablehaven, dragons usually don't keep very close to their natural families. They're wild animals. Other than mating purposes, dragons either keep to themselves, or hang out in clans that don't put family first."

"Maelstrom wasn't exactly the one who was interested in Skyfrost and Firesquall," said Ingrid. "She implied that she was sent by another dragon, whom she referred to as Dominera."

" _Dominera_?" asked Grandpa, displaying a confused look on his face. From what Kendra could tell, nobody else seemed to have any idea as to who Dominera was either.

"Who's Dominera?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"That's not a name I'm familiar with," replied Bracken.

"I guess none of us know." said Grandma. "But I think we're getting ahead of ourselves. What did Maelstrom say about Dominera?"

"Only that she's the most powerful dragon there is," replied Kendra. "She claimed that she was far more powerful than even Navarog."

"If Dominera's so great and powerful, how come we've never even heard of her until now?" asked Ingrid. "If Maelstrom had mentioned someone like Celebrant, then she might've made a convincing case."

"This is not the time for technicalities," said Bracken. "Maelstrom is powerful enough on her own. And if there's another dragon out there whom even _she_ holds in high regard, it's best that we take her under serious consideration."

"I don't mean to derail the conversation," said Mrs. Sorenson. "But what about the boys? They've just been abducted by a very powerful wyvern! What can be done to help them?"

"Going after Maelstrom right away would've been impossible," replied Kendra. "She was too strong and too fast for any of us to stand a chance against. We had no choice. We had to retreat."

"But what's going to happen?" asked Mr. Sorenson. "We don't even know where Maelstrom is going. Back to World's End, maybe?"

"The Knights of the Dawn have been working on reestablishing World's End now that Ronodin is gone from there," said Grandpa. "So probably not."

"The Oculus!" blurted Kendra. "I can just use the Oculus to find them!"

"Of course!" said Grandma. "I can't believe we almost forgot about it. I'll go get it right away."

Grandma proceeded to get up from her seat, then stepped out of the living room. Everyone listened as Grandma raced upstairs and proceeded to retrieve the Oculus from the cabinet in her room, then made her way back downstairs.

"Here it is," said Grandma, as she walked back into the living room, Oculus in hand. "At least now we won't lose track of the others."

Grandma proceeded to place the Oculus down and the coffee table, then returned to her seat.

"Anytime you're ready, Kendra," said Grandpa.

Kendra nodded, then proceeded to pick up the Oculus in her hand. Clenching the spherical crystal firmly in her grasp, Kendra closed her eyes and began to picture an image of Seth in her mind.

For a moment, there appeared to be nothing but darkness. Slowly, something began to phase into existence. Once it became opaque enough, Kendra recognized the figure as Seth. But where was he? He just appeared to be floating in some sort of void. Although Kendra knew that her brother would be unable to sense that he was being watched, Seth did not appear to be aware of his surroundings.

A moment later, a second Seth suddenly phased into existence beside the first one. The resemblance was uncanny. Why were there now two Seths? Was this actually supposed to be Victor? It seemed unlikely. The real Victor was dead. Another stingbulb, maybe?

A third Seth then materialized next to the first two. Followed by a fourth, then a fifth, and then a sixth. Something wasn't right. Kendra then envisioned Warren in her mind.

Warren soon appeared before Kendra. Like the six Seths that came before him, Warren also appeared to be in some sort of bizarre trance. Out of nowhere, a second Warren appeared. Moments later, a third Warren materialized alongside them.

"What's going on?" asked Kendra, as a fourth Warren appeared out of nowhere. Something wasn't right. There was a problem with the Oculus. It was only showing her targets, but not their positions in the world. And for some reason, it was showing her multiple copies of her targets.

More and more duplicates of Seth and Warren began appearing. She stopped focusing on both of them. But it didn't seem to matter what she envisioned, because more of the them kept appearing inexplicably. Soon there had to have been at least a dozen of them each, with more still appearing.

Kendra decided that she needed to focus on a different target altogether. She pictured Skyfrost in her mind, hoping that it would at least stop more Seths and Warrens from appearing. Surely enough, multiple Skyfrosts suddenly appeared around her all at once.

In every direction that Kendra turned, she saw that she was surrounded by copies of Seth, Warren and Skyfrost. She tried not to envision Firesquall. But no sooner had she thought of only the green wyvern's name had several of him suddenly appeared.

Several Maelstroms appeared, all floating around in the vast void behind all the others. Despite their size and presence, they all appeared to be oblivious of what was going on around them, just like the others.

Kendra immediately tried to focus on something else. Candy came to mind. She wasn't a huge sweet tooth by any definition of the term, but it was the simplest, safest thing she could think of to get her mind off of the others.

A lollipop appeared in front of Kendra. Despite not thinking about them, more lollipops appeared out of nowhere, coming in a variety of shapes and colors. Within seconds, there were piles of lollipops floating around Kendra, all of which had rapidly grown to sizes greater than herself.

Piles of gumdrops in assorted colors appeared, as did licorice twists, rock candies and jelly beans. The assorted candy piles all grew higher and higher, able to rival high-rises in size.

The candy piles all began to topple over, and were seemingly all going to crash down onto where Kendra was. She didn't know what to do as the candy fell towards her. She felt trapped.

"KENDRA!" screamed Bracken, causing the world around her to blur our of existence.

Kendra opened her eyes, and saw that she was now lying on the floor of the living room, in front of the couch. Bracken had knelt down on the floor next to her, while the other members of her family had all crowded around her. Kendra looked at Bracken, and saw that he was squeezing one of her hands firmly with his own. She could feel as energy was surging out through his hands and into her own.

"What happened?" asked Kendra, noticing that drool had apparently formed around her mouth.

"Oh, Kendra, thank god!" gasped Mrs. Sorenson. "You're okay."

"What's going on?"

"I am _so_ sorry," said Grandma. "We should never have let you use the Oculus."

"There's something really wrong with it!" blurted Kendra, as she pulled her hand out of Bracken's grasp, then used the back of it to wipe away the drool from her lips.

"You're not fairykind anymore," said Bracken. "But you used the Oculus anyway. That was a huge mistake. You could've lost your mind. Permanently."

Kendra sat up and took in a deep breath. "You're right. I wasn't even able to detect Seth properly. I mean, I saw him. But copies of him kept appearing. Same with Warren and the wyverns. They wouldn't stop coming."

"You were unable to control the Oculus properly," said Grandpa. "That's probably why they kept coming. And would've continued to come, had Bracken not intervened."

"I then thought about candy, hoping that it would at least stop the clones from appearing. But then the candy kept appearing uncontrollably, until I was nearly crushed by huge piles of it."

"That actually makes sense," said Bracken. "You were unable to control yourself. That's why copies of everyone kept appearing. And why you were unable to return to this reality at your own discretion. You thought of candy because you couldn't leave. And because you associate it with pleasure. But the Oculus was not being wielded by someone capable of withstanding its power. Why, within seconds, you had already lost control of your own body and had begun convulsing on the floor."

"Wait," said Kendra. "How long was I out for?"

"About ten seconds," replied Ingrid. "Bracken was quick in bringing you back."

"It felt like I was there for several minutes," said Kendra, releasing the Oculus from her other hand, that just now she realized she had been holding onto for the entire time.

"It was literally just a couple of seconds," said Dale.

"Bracken, I owe you my life," said Kendra. "But, why was I still holding the Oculus when I came to? Shouldn't you have ripped it out of my hand?"

"No!" replied Bracken, picking up the Oculus from the floor. "Pulling it from your grasp while you were lost in its power could've fried your brain permanently."

Kendra extended her arms and proceeded to give Bracken a hug. She squeezed his body as tightly as she could.

"Kendra. Whether you're fairykind, a fairy duchess, or a unicorn, or a human, I love you. But what happened just now, it was scary. I was afraid I might've lost you. We all did."

"I'm glad you still love me," said Kendra. "Even if I _am_ just an ordinary human now."

"I never said you were _ordinary_ ," said Bracken with a grin, as he leaned forward and pecked a kiss on Kendra's lips. "I never loved you for your powers. You see, there's no shortage of fairy magic where I'm from. Plenty of females. But none of them are like you."

"At least now we know better than to let Kendra use the Oculus," said Ingrid. "Bracken, why don't you give it a shot?"

"Absolutely not," said Bracken, shaking his head in response. "The only reason Kendra was able to use it when she was fairykind, was because she had the protection of the Fairy Queen herself, and her subjects to shield her from the excessive power of the Oculus. I may be a fairy prince myself, but I would not have the same protection as Kendra."

"The Sphinx admitted that even his best talent was unable to utilize the Oculus," said Grandma. "If Bracken doesn't feel confident in using the artifact, so be it."

"Wait," said Ingrid. "What if we got the other fairies to assist Bracken? Or let one of them use it?"

"It wouldn't matter. Best they could do would be to rescue me the same way that I rescued Kendra. Even my mother would be in the same boat."

"So... if using the Oculus to locate the others is out of the question, what are we supposed to do now?"

Everyone turned their heads and looked at one another.

Grandpa sighed. "I don't have an answer for that question. Until we can get a lead on their whereabouts, I'm afraid we will need to declare that Seth, Warren, Skyfrost and Firesquall... are lost."


	10. Here Be Dragons

**Chapter 10: Here Be Dragons**

For quite a considerable amount of time, Seth had been grasping onto Skyfrost's reigns, whilst he had clamped himself against the wyvern's backside with his legs.

With Skyfrost currently within the grasp of Maelstrom's enormous right talon, it was obvious that he, along with Firesquall, would not be going anywhere. The only reason he had not been crushed by Maelstrom, was because she had captured Skyfrost in such a position where Seth wound up in the gap between two of her huge toes.

There was seemingly nothing that Seth, Warren, Skyfrost or Firesquall could do to free themselves from Maelstrom. The two wyverns were being held in a way where they could not aim their mouths at Maelstrom. And even if they could reach her, Maelstrom would still be able to tank their attacks and return the favor a hundred times over.

Seth contemplated wishing that he had brought the Pyruby with him. Alas, as this outing was never intended to to be a mission, he had refrained from bringing the relic. Likewise, Warren had not brought the Sapphazure. Either way, with or without their relics, neither of them stood a chance against Maelstrom. Even if the four of them had a clear shot at Maelstrom, their combined attacks would barely so much as tickle her.

Maelstrom had not said much since their capture, aside from telling the quartet to be quiet, and that she was not interested in anything they had to say.

Seth turned his head and looked down at the world beneath him. They were flying over the countryside somewhere, although he had no idea as to where exactly they were. He had even asked Warren and the wyverns if they knew, but as they were all discombobulated, they admitted that they were unsure of their current position, as well as where they were going.

Suddenly, an idea had hit Seth like a ton of bricks. He was an angel! In all the commotion that had transpired, he and even his allies had failed to remember that he had angelic powers at his disposal.

"Guys!" exclaimed Seth. "Help me power-up!"

"Power up?" groaned Skyfrost, his voice carrying through from the other side of Maelstrom's talon.

"Not so loud..." said Seth in a voice that was barely deep enough to be audible against the wind. "Maelstrom might not know what I'm capable of. If you guys give me your support, maybe I can pull it off."

"Can't you do it yourself?" asked Warren.

"It's hard to focus in this position. I'm under a lot of pressure. It's hard to explain!"

"I don't know if I can focus either!" said Firesquall. "Maelstrom's got me in a very uncomfortable grip!"

"What if it's not enough?" asked Skyfrost. "Or it's too powerful? You might do something unpredictable to Maelstrom, if not us! Like it or not... she's our aunt!"

"So tell your _darling_ aunt to let us go!" snapped Seth.

"She may be our aunt, but she's no darling," said Firesquall.

"You four _do_ realize I can hear what you're saying!" said Maelstrom. "And Seth, I know all about your angelic secret, so there's no need to hide it from me. But that would require speaking, which I implore you to stop. Save all your questions for Dominera."

For the remainder of the flight very little conversation had transpired between anyone. Skyfrost and Firesquall eventually complained about the uncomfortable position that Maelstrom had been holding them in, but the larger wyvern did very little to adequately accommodate them.

If assuming his angel form was seemingly out of the question, Seth could do little else but worry about a number of concerns he had thought up in his head. Who was Dominera? What was she like? And what was she capable of? Either way, Seth was anticipating that Dominera was _not_ a dragon he would be looking forward to meeting.

And then there was the matter of Kendra, Ingrid, Raxtus and Geminus. Sure, they had managed to avoid capture. But the moment that they had been abducted by Maelstrom was the last that Seth and his fellow captives saw of them. They didn't stand a chance against Maelstrom, nor could they ever possibly keep up with her.

Even though Seth and Warren both had their phones on them, it was impossible for them to get any sort of signal at the rate they were flying. They had checked several times just to be sure, but no dice. They had also wondered if Kendra had been able to use the Oculus in an attempt to locate them, until Warren pointed out that as long as Kendra was lacking in her fairy abilities, that she should avoid touching the Oculus at all costs.

After what had to have been several hours, Maelstrom began to descend down beneath the clouds.

"We're almost there," said Maelstrom, as she flew down towards a vast mountain range, surrounded by forests and lakes.

"Are those the Rocky Mountains?" asked Warren, as Maelstrom continued her descent.

"Oh, aren't you clever?" said Maelstrom.

Within a minute, Maelstrom came down towards a large ledge situated upon one of the steep mountainsides. As she neared the mountain, Maelstrom slowed her descent, extending her wings to stay aloft in midair. She then came in for a landing on the ledge, with the rear digits of her talons pressing down against the ground.

At last Maelstrom opened up the front digits of her talons, finally releasing Skyfrost and Firesquall from her grasp. She proceeded to gently push Skyfrost out of the talon he was being held in, then did the same for Firesquall with her other talon.

"If you're smart, you will follow me," said Maelstrom, as Skyfrost and Firesquall both stumbled up onto their talons. "If you try to flee, you will deeply regret it. It's best if we continue from here on the ground."

"What is this place?" asked Seth, as he got down from Skyfrost and looked up at the steep, almost cliff-like mountainside that stood before him.

"This is where I live," replied Maelstrom, looming down at Seth.

"Doesn't look like much..." muttered Warren in a whisper.

Saying nothing, Maelstrom proceeded to walk directly into the face of the cliff, passing through the wall as though she were a ghost.

"No way..." said Firesquall. "She can phase through walls too?"

Maelstrom suddenly stuck her head back out through the wall. "It's a fake wall. Any idiot can pass through it. Now follow me."

Seth, Warren, Skyfrost and Firesquall all walked up in front of the wall. Feeling cautious, Seth reached his hand forward and attempted to touch the rock. However, instead of making contact with anything, his hand continued through the wall, as though it wasn't even there.

"Crazy..." said Seth, as he proceeded to walk directly through the imaginary wall. Once he stepped through to the other side, Seth discovered that he had emerged in a cave, the ceiling of which was dozens of feet high, enough for a wyvern like Maelstrom to stand in. Near the entrance, Seth noticed that the vast tunnel sloped downward. The tunnel wasn't terribly steep; Seth figured one could probably drive up and down it in a car.

"After you," said Maelstrom, now that her four captors had all passed through the phony wall.

Seth and his allies began to walk down the sloped tunnel, which appeared to be kept alit by sun stones that had been embedded at various points in the ceiling and walls.

After they walked for several yards, Maelstrom took just one giant step and caught up with the group.

"You know, it'd be faster if we just flew down," said Skyfrost.

"Don't you dare," said Maelstrom. "Just because I'm too large to fly in here doesn't mean you two can do so."

The group continued down the tunnel, while Maelstrom took a step once every so often to keep up with their pace. Eventually, the tunnel stopped sloping, but still continued forward.

After a little while longer, they arrived at a four-way intersection.

"Make a right here," said Maelstrom.

Although Seth wanted nothing more than to _not_ go right, he obliged anyway, if only so that Maelstrom would not retaliate in some way.

Maelstrom led the group down a few more tunnels, before they at last arrived in a vast chamber. At the far end of the chamber was a dragon, perched atop a huge pile of treasure. The dragon was white, sporting scales that shimmered even brighter than the treasure that was beneath it.

"Dominera, I have returned with my... nephews."

"Very nice," said Dominera, speaking in a deep, yet refined, feminine voice. "But I did not ask for you to bring me any humans."

"But these are no ordinary humans," said Maelstrom, as she and Seth's group all walked forward towards Dominera. "One of them has slight fairy attributes. The other possesses some degree of angelic powers."

"That would explain why neither of them are frozen in terror," said Dominera, as she loomed down towards Seth. Now that she was closer, Seth could see that Dominera's individual scales actually resembled diamonds. Dominera proceeded to study Seth and Warren with a pair of glistening purple eyes.

"What do you think?" asked Maelstrom.

"They're unusual, for humans. But so are sorcerers. And I'm capable of all sorts of magic. I have no real interest in them. It's the juvenile wyverns that really interest me. Wyverns! What are your names?"

"Sk-Sk-Skyfrost..."

"Fire...squall."

"And you two are from the Fablehaven preserve, yes?"

Skyfrost and Firesquall both nodded.

"Hello!" exclaimed Seth. "What is going on here?"

"This one certainly is feisty for a human," said Dominera. "Do you even know who I am?"

"Not quite."

Dominera sighed. "It's a sad day for dragons when not even the Queen of Dragons herself is recognized."

"Hold on," said Warren. "You're the _Queen_ of Dragons?"

"Indeed. I am Dominera Tyrannolthu. But you may refer to me simply as Dominera."

"If you're a queen, where are your subjects?" asked Seth.

"I have more subjects. Would you care to meet them?"

Dominera blinked her eyes and they emitted a brilliant flash of purple light. Suddenly, a number of other dragons, all unfamiliar to Seth, appeared throughout the room.

"Whoa," said Skyfrost, as he and the others looked around at all the dragons who had just appeared. The various dragons all came in a variety of shapes and colors. But one thing was similar between all of them. They were all just as huge as Dominera and Maelstrom were. Seth truly felt terrified. He was too scared to make any sudden movement.

"Dominera, what is it?" asked an orange dragon in a masculine-sounding voice.

"See for yourself," said Dominera, pointing down at Seth, Warren, and the two smaller wyverns.

"It's those wyverns!" blurted a yellow dragon with an unusually long snout and lanky build. She bent down and proceeded to press the tip of her snout towards the group. Seth was too scared to move, as if the dragon were any larger, he could probably climb inside one of her nostrils.

The yellow dragon sniffed Seth and his allies several times, each inhale powerful enough to gradually pull them towards her. "What is with these humans, though?"

"Yeah!" chimed in several more dragons.

"They came with the wyverns," said Maelstrom. "I wasn't all that interested in them one way or another."

Seth could feel his heart pounding violently within his chest, even as the yellow dragon backed her body away from him. "What do you want with us?"

"With you?" asked Dominera. "Absolutely nothing. Barring a few exceptions, humans are all weak and useless. And even the most powerful ones are weaklings compared to myself. Believe me."

"You're not gonna eat us, are you?"

The dragons all laughed, their voices loudly echoing all throughout the room.

"Should we take that as a _no_?" asked Warren.

"Why would we ever eat humans like you?" asked a green dragon. Upon closer observation, Seth realized that the head that spoke was actually one that shared a body with two other identical heads and necks.

"Humans taste disgusting," said the left head.

"Too small," said the right head. "Wouldn't eat one unless I was desperate."

"Why do you keep switching heads when you speak?" asked Seth, feeling only slighter safer now knowing that the dragons had little intention of eating him.

"What do you think we are?" asked the middle head. "A hydra? We may share the same body, but unlike a hydra, the three of us are separate individuals. My name is Klorgg."

"I'm Iplekk," said the left head.

"And I'm Skremm,"said the right head. "We're all highly intelligent."

"Just one of us is smarter than any other dragon in this room," said Iplekk.

"Or human," said Klorgg.

"Intelligence is what makes us viable," said Skremm. "All dragons in this clan have an attribute that makes them stand out."

"Precisely," said Dominera. "Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk have enhanced intelligence. Times three. I am capable of utilizing advanced magic. Maelstrom has numerous breath weapons. Woxull, the dragon who sniffed you a moment ago, has enhanced senses. We all have special abilities. All of us."

"So, what do you want with us?" asked Firesquall. "All I can do is breathe fire. That's gotta be the most basic dragon ability there is."

"And ice breath isn't all that much rarer either," said Skyfrost.

"You may develop greater powers as you mature," said Dominera. "But what really matters is that you two are here where you belong. With your queen."

Warren raised a hand. "Okay, since there will never be a better opportunity to ask, I'll just say it. Who died and made you queen?"

"Nobody _died_. It's just been unanimously decided that being the most powerful known dragoness in the world, I've taken it upon myself to assume the role as the Queen of Dragons. Since no other dragoness has ever managed to best me, it's a position that I've held on to for a long time."

"Yeah, two young wyverns like us could never compare to the likes of you," said Firesquall. "Was it really worth the trouble for Maelstrom to travel all the way to Connecticut to abduct us?"

"Absolutely," replied Dominera. "The dragons that you see before you? These are all the known dragons left in existence that haven't been imprisoned inside any of those accursed dragon sanctuaries. Which exist, no thanks to crooked humans like two you!"

Dominera raised her voice and pointed a finger towards Seth and Warren as she spoke.

"No!" exclaimed Skyfrost. "Please don't hurt them!"

"They're our friends!" said Firesquall.

"They wouldn't really eat us, would they?" asked Seth.

Dominera gagged. "Digesting a human would be a greater punishment for myself than it would be for the actual human."

"Navarog ate humans."

The dragons all groaned.

"Navarog was a sick freak," said Iplekk.

"Only reason he would actually eat humans, was because the demon part of him could somehow stomach them," said Klorgg.

"Would it really be wise to kill these two?" asked Woxull. "They're pretty exceptional as far as humans go."

"I'm still not interested in them," said Dominera. "It would matter not if they died."

"NO!" screamed Skyfrost. "Leave them alone!"

"Then what _should_ we do with them?" asked Dominera. She allowed her purple eyes to flash. A metal cage suddenly appeared around Seth and Warren, effectively trapping them.

"What do you want with us?" asked Seth, gripping two of the bars with his hands.

"Let us go!" snapped Warren. "We have done nothing wrong towards you! You have no reason to bully us!"

"Maybe you two individuals haven't. But the human race as a whole? Certainly. I have plenty of problems with your kind. I'll never understand how creatures that are so weak, so small, and so... non-magical, managed to become the dominant species on this planet. If not for a select few, dragons would own this world."

"Tell me this," said Seth. "You dragons are so big and powerful and everything. You've devastated entire civilizations in the past. If the two of us are no match for all of you, what can the rest of humanity do to stop you that we can't?

"Absolutely nothing," replied Dominera. "And that is part of the problem. We _could_ go around, terrorizing humans wherever we go. But what's the point? Almost all humans these days are no longer associated with the magical world. And unless they open their minds and start drinking magical milk, they wouldn't know an orc from a manticore!"

"You see," said Skremm, if we were to go out and ravage... say... Denver, nobody there is going to know that dragons were attacking the town."

"The humans would be terrified, yes," said Iplekk. "But not terrified of _us_."

"Humans can't see dragons," said Klorgg. "They'd just blame it on something else. Weather. Terrorists. Global warming. The government. But never dragons."

"And how exactly am I supposed to gain any acknowledgement from humans, when humans don't know that we dragons even exist!" shouted Dominera, as her eyes flashed again. Seth then found that he was now in the palm of one of Dominera's outstretched claws, while Warren was in the other. Dominera snarled at the two of them.

"No!" shrieked Skyfrost, as he and Firesquall both shot up to the level where Dominera's claws were holding Seth and Warren.

"Please don't hurt them!" gasped Firesquall. "We'll do anything!"

"Anything?" asked Dominera. She flashed her eyes once more, teleporting Seth and Warren back down to the floor. "Very well. I have a request. I want for the two of you to ally yourselves with me."

"What?" asked Skyfrost.

"You heard me. If you agree to stay with me, I will allow these two humans to leave here freely. Of course, if you don't want to cooperate, I will dispose of them."

"You can't do this!" hissed Firesquall. "We just want to go home."

"This place _is_ your home now," said Dominera. "So what will it be? I can let your friends go. Or they can die."

Skyfrost and Firesquall were both hyperventilating. They stared at Seth and Warren.

"You win," said Skyfrost. "We'll join you."

"Agreed," said Firesquall. "But don't hurt them."

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement," said Dominera, glaring towards the wyverns. "The two humans are free to go. But as for you two, you're both staying here."


	11. Separation

**Chapter 11: Separation**

Seth stared up at the horde of large dragons that were looming over himself, Warren, Skyfrost and Firesqaull. A million thoughts were rushing through his mind, prompting his heart to beat faster and faster. What was going to happen to them?

Dominera turned her attention towards a large, light blue wyvern. "Skyboom! Show our guests the way out. You're the fastest of all of us, so perhaps you can get rid of them the fastest."

"With pleasure, Dominera," replied the light blue wyvern, speaking in a raspy, feminine voice.

Dominera flashed her purple eyes once more. In a sudden flash of light, Seth found that he, Warren and Skyboom were now back outside,standing by the fake wall that served as the entrance to Dominera's lair.

"What was that?" asked Seth.

"Dominera's power can only send us so far," said Skyboom, glaring down at Seth. She wants you out of here. Now."

Seth and Warren looked down at the steep cliff that stood beneath them. The bottom of the cliff bordered a lake.

"Yeah, we'll just _swim_ our way across," said Warren.

"You humans are _so_ _weak_ ," said Skyboom. Seth noticed that Skyboom actually possessed two tails, both of which were twirling around in clockwise and counter-clockwise formations. "I could kill you two right now if I wanted to. No one would know. But... Skyfrost and Firesquall agreed to stay if you two were released. And I would feel guilty around them if I did kill you. I suppose I'll get you across the lake. It'll get you away from here, if nothing else."

Skyboom reached down with the claws that were on her wings, picking up Seth in one claw and Warren in the other. She then leaped up into the air and shot across the lake at an incredible speed, the surrounding scenery blurring as they passed through it. While the far end of the lake was easily several hundred feet across, it felt as though the trip took literally three seconds, as Skyboom was now descending upon the ground on the other side of the water.

Seth and Warren were both gasping heavily as Skyboom set the two of them down in a grassy clearing.

"You are _fast_ ," said Seth, who could not recall ever moving as such a high speed before in his life.

"That was nothing," said Skyboom. "Going any faster probably would've killed you two. Now leave this place and never return. Or you _will_ regret it."

Skyboom then jumped back up into the air and shot off back across the lake. Seth experienced a tremendous blast of wind that not only shook his entire body, but also ruptured the surface of the water and ruffled every last leaf and blade of grass in the immediate area.

"Whoa, she is _fast_ ," said Seth. "Did you _feel_ that?"

"Sonic boom..." said Warren, as he turned away from Seth and approached the closest tree. He proceeded to make a fist and slammed it against the trunk.

"Warren!"

"God... DAMNIT!" snapped Warren, as he retracted a bleeding palm from the tree. "Can you believe what just happened?"

"Warren, I'm upset, too," said Seth, dreading to think of what was going to happen to the wyverns. "But don't hurt yourself."

"I'm pissed. But what were we _supposed_ to do?"

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to become an angel! I tried to. Really! But I was just so startled and unable to focus the entire time..."

"Seth, even if you _had_ become an angel, I don't think you'd have single-handedly won against so many dragons."

"Speaking of hands, is yours okay?" asked Seth, staring at the bloody one that Warren was wiping with his other hand.

Warren sighed. "I'll walk it off."

"But what are we supposed to do about the wyverns?"

Warren approached Seth, extended his arms and gave Seth a hug. Seth hugged him back.

"We'll get help," said Warren. "I'm just upset that the two of us were so _helpless_ back there."

"How many dragons were there?" asked Seth.

"Eight, maybe? More if you count the three-headed one as three individuals."

"Did you see the dark blue one? I think it had four arms! And Skyboom had two tails. You think they help her fly faster?"

"Who knows?" replied Warren.

"And she's blue, very similar in color to Skyfrost. Even her name. Skyboom. It's so close to Skyfrost."

"Get your own prefix!"

Seth chuckled. "But, seriously, we need to call the others and let them know we're still alive."

Seth pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen. He saw that he currently had ten missed calls.

"People were trying to reach us," said Warren, looking at his own phone. "But we were out of service areas for a while."

Seth proceeded to dial home on his phone. After a few rings, somebody answered on the other line.

"Seth!" shouted Grandma, as Seth enabled the speaker phone, so that Warren could listen in. "The others told us everything! What happened?"

Seth and Warren took turns explaining as to what had transpired in regard to their abduction. They mentioned how they had flown for hours, before finally entering the lair, where they met Dominera and the rest of her clan. They also talked about how Dominera forced Skyfrost and Firesquall to stay, while the two of them got banished from of the lair.

"This is awful," said Grandpa through the phone.

"Skyfrost and Firesquall..." said Ingrid, who along with the rest of the family, had gathered around the kitchen phone.

"What are we going to do?" asked Kendra.

"We're going to get them back," said Seth. "But we're going to need help. We're going to head back home, then we'll return to... where in God's name are we, anyway?"

"We're in the Rocky Mountains," replied Warren, who was staring at his phone. "Colorado, about fifty miles west of Denver."

"I don't know how we're going to find you!" said Kendra. "I don't think any of us have ever been out in the Rockies before. And on top of that, I can't use the Oculus to search for anyone. I tried it earlier, but it didn't work because I'm no longer fairykind. It was really messed up..."

"What do you mean?" asked Seth.

"Don't worry about looking for us," said Warren. "Even if you had our coordinates, we'd be waiting around for a long time. There's a highway not too far from our location. We'll make our way to Denver and take a plane home."

"All right," said Mr. Sorenson. "Good luck."

Once Seth hung up, he and Warren made their way through the rather barren countryside. After walking for about twenty minutes, Seth still felt miserable.

"Who knows what they're doing to Skyfrost and Firesquall right now," said Seth.

"I don't even want to think about it," said Warren.

"We're not going to get home for hours!"

"Look on the bright side. At least the dragons didn't eat us."

"We taste awful, apparently. And the only reason Navarog ate humans was because it was the demon part of him that craved them."

"Yet Raxtus ate Navarog. Or Gavin, at least."

"That's unusual, especially for a fairy dragon," said Seth.

"Well, fairy dragons _are_ pretty unusual. Must be an imbalance in Raxtus' palate."

"I just wish Raxtus was here. I hate having to walk all this way. We don't even have access to a vehicle!"

"I'd settle for the Flintstones' car right now," said Warren. "I already miss Firesquall."

Seth and Warren continued trekking across the hilly countryside for what had to be the greater portion of an hour. Once they reached the top of a large hill, they looked down and saw a highway that was running along the bottom, perpendicular to the direction they had approached from.

"We made it," said Warren. "Route 70."

Seth and Warren made their way down the hill, then stopped by the side of the road. Seth watched as a vehicle blurred past them every second or so, whether it was heading east or west.

"We're hitchhiking?" asked Seth, who saw that Warren was holding out an arm with his hand in a thumbs-up position.

"Unless you'd rather walk."

"But isn't hitchhiking supposed to be dangerous?" asked Seth, watching as several cars ignored Warren.

"I just survived being with all those dragons. There's nothing that anyone driving along here could do that would intimidate me now. And if anyone's stupid enough to give us trouble, I'll kick their ass."

After several more cars passed by them, Seth watched as an approaching vehicle actually pulled over onto the shoulder a few yards ahead from where he and Warren were standing. A black pickup truck, it slowly drove over to where they were and stopped.

Seth watched as the passenger side window lowered. Looking out at the two of them from the driver's seat was a older man wearing a grey and black checkered flat cap. The man sported a grey mustache, and if Seth had to guess his age, he assumed the man was in his early sixties.

"Hello there," said the man, who sounded a little confused. "What are you two boys doin' all the way out here?"

"Our car was totaled on a side road not too far from here," replied Warren. "No point in calling Triple A. Are you heading to Denver?"

"Sure am. You poor boys. I'd be more than happy to give you two a lift. Except, I've only got one free seat, and there's two of you."

"We can share the seat," said Seth.

"I can't have the two of you sharin' one seatbelt. But you're welcome to ride in the back. Whereabouts in Denver are you trying to go?""

"Denver International Airport. We can rent a car there."

"Not that far from where I need to go. I can drop you two off."

"Wow," said Warren. "Thank you so much."

Seth and Warren walked around to the back of the truck, where the tailgate had already been lowered. As they climbed onto the back, Seth noticed that the entire bed was completely empty.

"Oh sure," muttered Seth, as Warren lifted up the tailgate and closed it. "Instead of sharing _one_ seatbelt, we get to ride in the back where not only are there no seatbelts, but there are also no _seats_!"

"Just be glad this guy was nice enough to give us a ride," said Warren, as he sat at the front of the bed by the rear window of the cab. Seth joined him. "Okay! We're good to go!"

The truck started up and began to pick up speed. The ride started off smoothly, although there were a few turns here and there that caused Seth and Warren to slide around a little bit. But the two travelers had little trouble remaining in seated positions. After all, they were used to riding around on the backs of wyverns. To Seth, this truck ride felt like a breeze in comparison.

Roughly half an hour later, Seth could tell that they had now entered Denver, as the passing countryside had slowly become overtaken by low-rise residential and commercial buildings. The truck continued down the freeway as it passed through the city, until it eventually went down an off-ramp. After passing a few large buildings, the truck pulled over in front of one of the terminals of Denver International Airport.

"This is it," said Warren, as he got up and jumped over the driver's side of the truck and landed on the road. Seth followed his lead, just as the driver lowered his window.

"You're a life saver," said Warren, as he removed a wad of bills from his wallet and passed them to the driver.

"All this?" asked the driver. "Well, okay. Thanks! Hope you two can get everything settled."

 _He has no idea what we're going through_ , Seth thought to himself, waving to the truck as it began to drive away.

Seth and Warren then entered the terminal and proceeded to walk down a busy hallway. They then reached a line of people that twisted around several rows of stanchions, where they proceeded to line up. After about twenty minutes of waiting, they had reached the front of the line. From Seth's perspective, this was actually going to be the second surprise airplane flight he'd be taking within a twenty-four hour period.

Warren went ahead and purchased two tickets on the next possible flight to New York City. Fortunately, the two of them were carrying enough identification to get through protocol. As they did not have anything in the way of luggage, the process went by fairly smoothly.

Seth and Warren then made their way through the security checkpoint, which was easy, given that they had no bags, weapons or even any magical trinkets on hand. They continued through the airport and reached their gate, where they at last were able to sit down. As much as Seth enjoyed riding on Skyfrost, it was not the most comfortable position for him to be in. Coupled with all the walking and sitting in the back of a truck, it was a relief to actually be sitting in a proper chair for once.

After waiting about another half hour, Seth and Warren were finally able to board their plane. They found their seats in the business class section and Seth plopped himself down in the aisle seat.

"Hey, don't you want the window?" asked Warren.

"I don't care," said Seth. "I've done enough flying today. Looking out at the sky will only make me miss Skyfrost. In fact, just close the blind. I'm tired."

"Okay then," said Warren, as he sat down next to Seth and pulled down the window blind.

Once the plane had taken off and was flying smoothly, Seth realized just how tired he truly was. He lowered his seat as far back as it would go, shut his eyes, and fell asleep.

Sometime later, Seth found himself being awoken by Warren, who had been shaking his body with one hand.

"Get up, Seth," said Warren, as Seth opened his eyes, now feeling somewhat rejuvenated. "The plane's getting ready to land."

Seth raised his seat back up, then unbuckled his seat belt. At this point, Warren opened up the window shade, revealing that it was now nighttime. Of course, given that they had been gone for a while, and had crossed two time zones, it was perfectly understandable.

Once the plane had landed and Seth and Warren had gotten off, Warren pulled out his phone and proceeded to make a call.

Back home at Fablehaven, the family had already eaten dinner and cleaned up. They had been awaiting a follow-up call from Seth and Warren for hours now. In the interim, Grandpa had been hard at work in his study, trying to delve up any information that he could on Dominera.

Kendra, who had been trying to relax with her family in the living room, was caught off guard when she heard the phone ringing. After the second ring, Grandma had answered it.

"Warren!" exclaimed Grandma. "You and Seth are back? Oh, that's a relief! You're at JFK Airport? Great! You want to speak to Kendra? Sure!"

Grandpa handed the phone to Kendra, who in turn held it up to her face.

"Hey," said Kendra.

"Kendra, you remember JFK Airport, right?"

"Yeah..." replied Kendra, thinking back to the several instances that she had been through the place.

"Seth and I are heading towards the entrance of Terminal 8 right now. Can you find a way there using the Translocator and meet up with us?"

Kendra's face lit up. "Now that I can do! I'll be there in a few minutes. See you soon!"

"What is it?" asked Mr. Sorenson, as Kendra hung up.

"Warren wants me to travel to the airport with the Translocator to pick up him and Seth. It's nice to know that even though I'm no longer fairykind or anything, there's still things I can do."

"Should I come?" asked Ingrid.

"If you want," said Kendra. "It's just going to be in-and-out this time."

Ingrid sighed. "I guess you're right. I'll let you have this one."

"Okay," said Kendra. "I'll be back soon."

Kendra made her way upstairs and into her grandparents' bedroom. She opened up the door to their cabinet and took out the Translocator. With the image of the busy concourse of JFK Airport in her mind, Kendra wound up the artifact and allowed it to transport her out of her grandparents' bedroom.

A moment later, Kendra found herself standing next to a wall, and was bombarded by the noise of a crowd. Seemingly dozens of people were rushing back and forth through a terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, toting suitcases, strollers and loaded trolleys, among other things.

Fortunately it appeared as though nobody had noticed Kendra's sudden appearance, as they were all seemingly preoccupied with something else, whether it was having conversations with one another, trying to find their way around, or they were busy doing something with their phone.

Kendra found her way through the concourse and exited through a set of sliding doors to the sidewalk at the entrance to the terminal. Surely enough, off to one side was were Seth and Warren had been waiting for her.

"Kendra!" gasped Seth, as he ran up to his sister and gave her a hug. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"You two look so weary," said Kendra, as she let go of Seth and hugged Warren.

"We've been through a lot today," said Warren. "Unfortunately, it feels like all this has only been the tip of the iceberg."

"Come on, let's get out of here. But let's find a better place to do that."

Kendra, Seth and Warren went back into the airport and entered the nearest washroom. Despite being a women's washroom, they all entered anyway. Thankfully, there did not appear to be anyone else in the room. Kendra pulled out the Translocator and wound it up once more, sending the group of three out of the airport washroom and back to the living room at Fablehaven.


	12. The Lost Wyverns

**Chapter 12: The Lost Wyverns**

Seth opened his eyes, just in time to watch as the living room at Fablehaven materialized around him, Kendra and Warren.

"Seth!" exclaimed Mrs. Sorenson, who had been sitting on the couch. She wasted no time in getting up onto her feet and giving Seth a hug. A few seconds later, Mr. Sorenson also found himself hugging Seth.

"I'm glad you guys are okay," said Dale, as he wrapped an arm over Warren's shoulders and gave him a few pats.

"But not Skyfrost and Firesquall!" exclaimed Seth. "They're still stuck with Dominera!"

"What are we going to do?" asked Ingrid.

"We'll get 'em back," said Seth.

"And we know just where to find 'em," said Warren, looking at his phone. "I've marked the location of Dominera's lair on my phone. And on top of that, we can return there anytime using the Translocator."

"So what was it like?" asked Grandma. "What happened? What was Dominera like?"

"Mom, please," said Mrs. Sorenson. "The boys must be exhausted. Would you two like anything to eat?"

It was at this moment that Seth could feel just how hungry he truly was at this point. His stomach was grumbling.

"Yes, please!" blurted Seth. "We had some potato chips at the airport, but not a proper meal. We kinda slept through dinner on the plane."

"Yeah," said Warren. "It was only one small bag that we shared. Barely enough to even consider it an appetizer."

"Well, there's leftovers in the fridge," said Mr. Sorenson. "We didn't know when you'd be back."

"Is there any seafood left?" asked Seth.

"No, sorry," replied Dale. "We gave most of it away, and what was left we gave to Raxtus and Geminus for dinner before it could spoil."

"Raxtus and Geminus! They must be worried sick about the wyverns!"

"Easy," said Grandma. "Why don't you and Warren have something to eat first? Then we can all go outside and talk about what happened to Raxtus and Geminus."

"What about Stan?" asked Warren. "Where is he?"

"He's been busy in his study, trying to find out more information about Dominera."

"We've got plenty to tell him already. But for now, Seth and I are gonna get some grub."

Seth and Warren went into the kitchen. In the refrigerator, they found a pot with some of Grandma's homemade chili in it. After heating up the chili in the microwave, the two of them each sat down to a bowl of it in the dining room. Despite having been reheated, Seth was of the mind that his grandmother's chili still tasted amazing. And judging from the way that Warren was devouring his own bowl, Seth got the impression that his cousin was inclined to agree.

Once Seth and Warren had loaded their dishes into the dishwasher, the rest of the family stepped into the kitchen.

"Hey, Grandpa," said Seth.

"I'm relieved to see that you're both okay," replied Grandpa. "I've been looking hard for more information on Dominera ever since Kendra and Ingrid got back. But any information at all has proven to be extremely scarce."

"Let's just all go outside and meet up with Raxtus and Geminus," said Kendra. "They're going to want to find out about what all of you have learned."

The family made their way through the back door of the kitchen and out onto into the backyard. Although the sun had already gone down, the fairies that were buzzing around the yard were helping to keep the place illuminated in an array of bright colors.

As the family walked through the yard, a small group of fairies flew up towards Kendra., their brilliant glows glistening against the twilight. The fairies looked up at Kendra, all wearing looks of confusion on their faces, then proceeded to flutter away from her.

"It's like the fairies don't even recognize me," said Kendra.

"I wouldn't say that," said Bracken. "They still know who you are. They're just confused because you no longer project any fairy energies."

"That's what bothers me. I lost what made me special among the fairies. And now that it's gone, the fairies have no interest in me. To them, I'm just a has-been."

"Kendra if it makes you feel any better, I'm a fairy, and I still love you."

"Thanks, Bracken. But you're not like most other fairies. You're different."

"Look, let's not get off track here," said Mr. Sorenson, as he stopped in front of the entrance to the dragons' cave at the edge of the yard. "There's quite a bit we still need to discuss with Raxtus and Geminus."

The family entered the small cave that served as the lair of the dragon family. Sitting down at the far end of the cave were Raxtus and Geminus, both of whom looked up at the family as they approached them.

Dawdling around in front of her parents was Vanessa. She stopped for a moment and looked at the family, then went back to wandering around, as though she was searching for something.

"You're back!" said Raxtus. "Stan and the others told us everything earlier."

"Skyfrost and Firesquall," said Geminus. "What's going to happen to them?"

"Seth and Warren are going to lead us back to Dominera's lair," said Bracken. "With any luck, we'll be able to make our way around without getting caught. And hopefully, if we come across Skyfrost and Firesquall, we can use the Translocator to whisk them out of there before Dominera or any of those other dragons are able to intervene."

"Your plan doesn't sound too reliable. What if something goes wrong?"

"It's a plan," said Warren. "It's not perfect, but it's better than no plan at all."

"Actually, no plan at all seems better than a plan that _could_ go horribly wrong," said Ingrid.

"What's up with Vanessa?" asked Seth, looking down at the purple hatchling that was tugging on his pant leg.

"She's confused," replied Raxtus. "She doesn't understand why Skyfrost and Firesquall aren't around. We've tried explaining it to her, but she doesn't quite comprehend the concept of language. So she's confused."

"She still doesn't understand speech, correct?" asked Kendra.

"She's almost one year old," said Geminus. "Hopefully she'll start speaking soon. But, like any baby, it'll be a while before any of us can sit down and have a conversation with her."

"Anyway," said Raxtus, "what we're really concerned about right now is Skyfrost and Firesquall. What's Dominera doing with them?"

Warren sighed. "I don't know. Seth and I haven't seem them since we got _escorted_ out of the lair."

"It can't be anything too horrible," said Seth. "I mean, why go through all that trouble of having Maelstrom abduct them just so that they can be locked up or tortured?"

"Dominera wouldn't do that. She said that she values dragons."

" _Normal_ dragons," said Raxtus. "But not fairy dragons. That's the only reason why Maelstrom didn't care about Geminus or myself."

"So what are we going to do about Skyfrost and Firesquall?" asked Geminus. "We're wasting time just sitting around here and gabbing!"

"I would advise against going back there tonight," said Grandpa. "It's been a long day for all of us."

"Especially for Seth and myself," said Kendra.

"You think _you've_ had a long day, Kendra?" asked Seth. "At least you didn't go halfway across the country twice in one day!"

"We're all going to rest for tonight," said Grandma. "Then tomorrow, early in the morning, once everyone has rested up, you folks can return to Dominera's lair, and hopefully find Skyfrost and Firesquall."

"Our poor boys," said Geminus. "Are they okay? Even as we speak?"

"That's something I wasn't able to find out," said Kendra. "Now that I'm no longer fairykind, I don't possess the ability to safely look through the Oculus."

"But Seth should still be able to do so," said Grandpa. "That's why we took the liberty of bringing the Oculus out here with us."

Everyone watched as Grandpa reached a hand into her pant pocket and pulled out the Oculus.

"Yeah," said Seth. "I still have my powers and protection and all that. So I should still be able to use the Oculus without any trouble."

"Okay then," said Grandpa. "Why don't you take a seat and give it a shot?"

"Okay," said Seth, as he sat down on the rough floor of the cave, allowing his back to rest against a dirt wall. The dragons' lair was hardly the most comfortable place for a human to be found at Fablehaven, but as long as Seth was able to sit down, he would be more than willing to live with the situation.

Grandma presented the Oculus to Seth, who accepted it from her. He then grasped the artifact firmly within both of his hands and closed his eyes. In his mind, he pictured Skyfrost.

Seth waited as the blue wyvern rapidly appeared before his very eyes. He was in a vast cave somewhere, accompanied by Firesquall.

"I see them!" blurted Seth, still engaged within the realm of the Oculus' vision.

As Seth studied Skyfrost and Firesquall, he was quick to notice that the two of them were both lying down on their front sides. Seth realigned his perspective so that he could better see Skyfrost's face, only to notice that he looked fairly depressed. His eyelids were only half open, and a think layer of frost was building up around his nostrils. Seth recognized this display from the rare time that Skyfrost was unhappy about something.

Seth then shifted his attention over to Firesquall. He too was also appeared to look perturbed, if the smoke that was flowing out through his nostrils was any indication.

Wanting to learn more, Seth looked around at the large cavern that Skyfrost and Firesquall were in. It was comparable to the chamber where they had been in earlier with Dominera and all of those other dragons, giving further evidence that the cavern they were currently in was likely somehow a part of Dominera's greater lair.

Seth searched around the cavern. Aside from Skyfrost and Firesquall themselves, the place didn't appear to hold anything of interest. It just seemed to amount to little more than a very spacious, yet otherwise empty room. The only thing in the cavern that even stood out to Seth in any way was the entrance.

Wanting to know where the only entrance to the room might take him, Seth closed in on it, and saw that it was actually one end of a tunnel. Seth allowed his eyes to proceeded into the tunnel. The tunnel was not terribly long, and soon led Seth out into what appeared to be another tunnel. Only this larger tunnel appeared to be a hallway of sorts, with seemingly more tunnels branching off of it. However, what immediately stood out to Seth was the dragon that was standing around next to the tunnel that back led to where Skyfrost and Firesquall were.

Just as large as Dominera and the others, the dragon that was standing by the tunnel sported red scales and a black underside. Several horns of varying lengths protruded from his head, with the largest ones sitting in the front. Seth was afraid that somehow, this red dragon could see him with his glowing orange eyes, even though it was highly unlikely that the mysterious dragon knew that he or she was even being watched. Seth didn't know if this dragon was male or female, but he envisioned it as a male.

This red dragon, whoever he was, had clearly been stationed as a guard, assigned to watch over Skyfrost and Firesquall. The wyvern twins were prisoners. It made no sense to install doors in a lair so large, as even Skyfrost and Firesquall could blast through them. Instead, all they needed was a full-grown dragon to watch over them and see to it that they would not escape.

Skyfrost and Firesquall were tiny in comparison to this red dragon. If they were to try and escape from where they were, this dragon would destroy them hands down. Seth didn't know what this dragon was truly capable of, but a creature of such proportions certainly looked like he would be able to tank all of the ice and fire that the twins could possibly exert upon him.

Seth looked around at the hallway that the red dragon was in. There were many other passageways that undoubtedly led to other parts of the lair. But Seth wasn't interested in learning where all of them led right now. Instead, all he was really concerned about at the moment was trying to locate Dominera.

Rather than aimlessly trying to find Dominera, wherever she currently was within the lair by playing hide and seek, Seth opted to just search her out by way of the Oculus.

Seth pictured Dominera in his mind. Of all the new dragons he had encountered today, Dominera clearly stood out the most, given that she had been the center of attention earlier on. Seth envisioned Dominera, complete with her white, diamond-like scales and intense purple eyes.

At that instant, the tunnel that Seth was seemingly in blurred itself out of existence. Just as soon as it had faded, Dominera herself came into view.

Undoubtedly in another cavern within the lair, Seth could see that Dominera was standing in front of several other dragons. As her snout was continuously flapping open and shut, it was clear that Dominera was in the middle of speaking to these dragons.

However, just what it was that Dominera was saying was saying to these other dragons was a complete mystery, for Seth was unable to hear any sounds through the Oculus. Likewise, when Dominera stopped speaking, a purple wyvern began to talk. Alas, what the purple wyvern was saying also remained a mystery.

Not knowing what else he could do at the point, Seth opened his eyes, allowing his eyes to return to the drastically smaller dragon lair back at Fablehaven.

"Seth, what did you see?" asked Grandpa, as Seth set the Oculus down by his side.

"Skyfrost and Firesquall," said Seth. "They're being held captive somewhere in Dominera's lair."

"Are they okay?" asked Geminus.

"They don't appear to be hurt," said Seth. "And they didn't seem to be in any immediate danger. But they're upset. That much was obvious."

"Did you see anything else?" asked Grandma.

"I located Dominera, who was having a conversation with several of the other dragons elsewhere in the lair. However, I had no idea what they were talking about."

"Were you able to get a good idea of the lair's layout?" asked Warren.

Seth shook his head. "I didn't even take that into consideration. Why do you ask?"

"If we're going to go back to this place to rescue Skyfrost and Firesquall, it'd be a huge asset to know where we're going."

"That still seems kind of tricky. That place was like a maze inside. I'd have to start from where Skyfrost and Firesquall were and then try to work my way out without getting lost."

"It's not a big deal right now," said Ingrid. "Seth can always try it later."

"Exactly," said Seth. "I'm too tired now, anyway. It was strenuous enough just looking for Skyfrost and Firesquall and Dominera."

"Okay, okay," said Warren. "But first thing tomorrow, after you've rested up, I'm going to need you to try and locate a path from where Skyfrost and Firesquall are being held to the exit of the lair. That way, we'll be able to get to the wyverns and get out of there as quickly as possible."

"Wait!" muttered Seth. "There was this other dragon, who was standing guard by where Skyfrost and Firesquall were being held. And he was by the only entrance to their chamber. He'll notice us if we go anywhere near there, if none of the other dragons notice us first."

"Invisibility is always an option," said Raxtus. "It's simple enough for myself, and you folks have those two gloves. If all we need to do is slip into this place, find Skyfrost and Firesquall and warp out, we might be able to do this without getting caught."

"But it's still not going to end there," said Kendra. "Even if we are successful in rescuing Skyfrost and Firesquall, Dominera's obviously going to conclude that we were the ones that were behind it. She'll come here to Fablehaven looking for them. She and those other dragons are going to station themselves right outside the gate, assuming they aren't able to bypass the barrier."

"You've got a point," said Ingrid. "Who knows how long they could camp out there? What are we going to do then?"

Warren shook his head. "I'm sorry. All I could think about was getting Skyfrost and Firesquall back. I didn't even consider the repercussions it would bring."

"I don't know how we could stop Dominera," said Geminus. "Maelstrom gave us more than enough trouble on her own. And if there's a whole clan of dragons like them, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"Couldn't the fairies do anything to help?" asked Kendra.

Bracken shook his head. "I don't know. So many dragons would undoubtedly be quite powerful. One dragon alone is trouble enough. I don't know how we'd be capable of dealing with all of them at once. I'm sorry."

"We've got a lot to deal with at the moment," said Grandpa. "But it has been a very long day, especially for Seth and Kendra. I propose that everyone goes to bed, so that we're all rested up for tomorrow."

After saying their goodbyes to the dragons, the family proceeded to leave the cave and began to walk back through the yard towards the house.

Kendra shook her head. "This is my fault. If I wasn't so stupid, I'd still be a unicorn right now, and I'd have the power to deal with any threats those dragons could throw at me."

"Kendra, _this_ is hardly your fault," said Ingrid.

"We wouldn't be in so much trouble, though. And even if these dragons weren't an issue, I still need to try and find a way to become fairykind again."

"Being normal's not _so_ bad."

"I know," said Kendra. "But it was something very useful that I had earned. And I lost it for such a _stupid_ reason. Would you like it if you lost something that meant a lot to you?"

Ingrid sighed. "I've lost things far more valuable than any superpower in my life. But I know how you must feel. Lost. Helpless. Meaningless. But maybe you can get your abilities back somehow."

"And what if I can't?"

Bracken placed a hand on Kendra's shoulder. "You'll always have me. No matter what happens."


	13. A Legend-Dairy Heist

**Chapter 13: A Legend-Dairy Heist**

With all of the commotion and unexpected turns that had quickly spiraled out of control throughout the day, Kendra and Seth felt relieved once they had washed up and were finally able to settle down into their beds.

Seth was quick to nestle himself in beneath his covers. Although he had gotten a chance to nap whilst riding on the plane from Denver, the seat wasn't nearly as comfortable as his actual bed. And given what he had endured throughout the course of the day, Seth was still extremely tired.

It wasn't even ten yet, but the extra hours he had experienced from his trip through time with Kendra, in addition to losing two hours on the plane, Seth felt that the current time for him should actually be in line with dawn of the next morning.

* * *

On the floor above Seth, in the attic, Kendra and Ingrid had both gotten into their beds. Kendra too was overtired from the excursion back in time, but at the very least, she didn't endure everything Seth went through when Maelstrom had abducted him.

"Kendra, I'm really worried," said Ingrid. "What if we aren't able to rescue Skyfrost and Firesquall tomorrow?"

Kendra shook her head. "I don't know. We know what Maelstrom is capable of. And if what Seth and Warren have told us is anything to go on, Dominera and all those other dragons sound just as dangerous as her."

"The idea of going up against so many dragons scares me. We barely survived that time we went to Balauridge, when we recruited Zavarok. Remember Rulong?"

"He was just playing with us. And we barely made it out of that place alive."

"I'll never understand how you and Seth survived Wyrmroost."

"That place was a nightmare," said Kendra. "We got separated. There were casualties. Warren got trapped in the knapsack... which brings me to... _Gavin_."

"I'd never set foot in a place like that if I didn't have to," said Ingrid.

"You've been to the Demon Domain and lived. Several times."

"Yeah, but there were no powerful dragons living there. This is different."

"Look, the plan is to sneak into the lair, rescue the wyverns and escape with the Translocator."

Ingrid let out a sigh. "Even if the plan does work... What's to stop Dominera and the others from coming back here, looking for Skyfrost and Firesquall?"

"I don't know," said Kendra, not wanting to think about the predicament any further.

"And what about your fairykind abilities? What are you going to do about _that_? We can't even so much as _think_ of a solution."

Kendra tried to think of a response, but couldn't. Even saying the words _I don't know_ felt as though it would be too stressful for her.

"Kendra?" asked Ingrid.

"Good night," grumbled Kendra, as she turned her head away from Ingrid and shut off her lamp. Now that she was no longer fairykind, darkness was actually dark again to her. However, Kendra was still overtired from the day, and she soon found herself falling asleep before too long.

* * *

As a loud wailing sound pounded its way through his head, Seth opened up his eyes and awoke from his sleep. His room still dark, Seth turned his head and saw that the glowing red characters on his digital alarm clock read 2:53 AM.

The obtrusive sound that Seth had heard continued, and appeared to be coming from outside somewhere. As tired as he still was, Seth felt compelled into trying to determine who- or what, was causing the source of the noise.

Seth flicked on his bedside lamp, rolled out of his bed and stumbled over to the window. Letting out a heavy yawn, Seth pulled on the cord of the Venetian blinds that were covering the window, allowing them to rise and fold upward.

Seth peered out the window, but it was still quite dark outside, making it hard for him to make out much of anything that might be going on. The wailing sound had now grown fainter, as though it had moved further away. What could it have been?

Part of Seth wanted to just go back to sleep in his nice, comfy bed. He was still very tired. However, the mystery sound was far from being something which one could call normal. He had to know what it was. Seth stuck his feet into his pair of slippers, tossed on a bathrobe, and made his way out of his bedroom.

As Seth exited his room, he found Dale walking down the hallway towards the stairs. Dale was also still wearing his night clothes.

"Dale!" blurted Seth. "You heard the noise?"

"The whole house heard that noise!" replied Dale, as Mr. and Mrs. both emerged from their bedroom. Within seconds, Warren came out of his room, followed by Grandpa and Grandma from their room. Lastly, Kendra and Ingrid came down from the staircase that led to the attic.

"Any guesses as to what that was?" asked Ingrid, as the family made their way down the stairs to the foyer.

"It was really loud!" said Mr. Sorenson, who sounded as though he was still half asleep.

"You think it might've been a banshee?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"That thing was way too loud to have been a banshee," said Warren. "Whatever it was."

Once the family had reached the bottom of the stairs, Seth began to approach the front door, his arm extended as he reached for the doorknob.

"Wait!" cried Ingrid. "What if whatever's out there is dangerous?"

"It sounded like it passed right by the house," said Dale. "Like it had the run of the place. If that's the case, we might not be much safer in here then we would be out there."

"We need to know," said Grandpa. "Seth, open the door."

Seth grasped his hand onto the doorknob and opened it. As the family made their way outside, onto the porch, they were soon greeted by a court of buzzing fairies, as well as several reindeer.

"What's going on?" asked Grandma, as the fairies all began to shout in a high-pitched warbling sound that Kendra found she was unable to interpret.

"Calm down, please!" said Seth, who _could_ still understand what the fairies were saying, provided they weren't all shouting at once. "Now, can someone please explain what's going on?"

"Oh, it's awful!" sobbed Goldenrod, as she, Passion and Larissa all fluttered up to the front of the court of fairies.

"It was Viola!" moaned Passion.

"Viola?" asked Dale. "What's wrong? What happened? Is she okay?"

"Viola just burst out of her barn!" exclaimed Larissa. "And she just flew across the property!"

"What?" gasped Grandpa. "How is that even _possible_?"

"This has to be a bad dream," said Kendra, shaking her head in disbelief, as the entire family proceeded to run down off the porch and made their way around the side of the house.

"Viola just _flew_?" asked Warren. "I suppose you're also gonna tell us that the dish ran away with the spoon."

"See for yourself!" uttered Passion, once the family had turned around the corner at the rear end of the house.

Surely enough, once everyone laid their sights on Viola's barn, they were able to see just what it was that had caused such a frenzy among the fairies and reindeer. The entire roof of the barn had seemingly been torn off of the building, and was laying on the ground next to it in one huge piece.

" **Viola**!" screamed Dale, as he charged towards the barn at what had to have been the fastest speed that Kendra had ever seen anyone run at in her life.

As Dale approached the barn, the rest of the family followed behind, and were soon approached by Hugo and Mendigo.

"Viola," said Hugo. "She flew out of her barn, then flew away."

"HOW?" blared Seth.

"I don't know."

"SHE'S GONE!" cried Dale from inside the barn.

"We've gotta get her back!" said Ingrid, as the rest of the family entered the barn.

Now that they were inside the barn, Kendra and Seth could see that Viola was in fact missing. The large barn that normally housed her now suddenly felt very empty. And the open roof that was missing only added to the illusion that there was even more space than there was before, as one could see the night sky above them just by looking upward. Kendra and Seth could both feel their hearts pounding furiously within their chests.

"Hugo," said Warren. "Where'd Viola go? What direction?"

"Viola flew towards gate," said Hugo. "Hugo tried to catch her. But Viola too fast. Viola too high. Hugo could not succeed. Hugo gave up. Hugo sorry."

"I wouldn't blame you for that, Hugo," said Grandma. "Thank you for trying."

"I want to address the elephant, or should I say _giant cow,_ in the room," said Seth. "Or the one that used to be, anyway. How in the hell can Viola fly?"

"She can't," said Grandma. "Even though she's magical, there's no way a milch cow could fly. Her bodily fluids and excrement are highly potent, but not in any way that she could use them directly."

"So if Viola did fly out of here, another party had to have been involved," said Kendra.

"Dominera," said the rest of the family in unison.

"Not that I disagree or anything," said Seth. "But... how? How could Dominera get into Fablehaven in the first place?"

"I'm not sure," said Grandpa. "Unless Dominera somehow found a way to breach the barrier around the preserve. I'll have to send a distress call to the Fairy Kingdom and see to it that everything here is still in order."

"Check this out!" said Goldenrod, who was currently surrounded by many other fairies.

"Check what out?" asked Ingrid.

"Ice! Some of the reindeer found ice behind the barn!"

"Ice?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "What ice?"

"This just keeps getting stranger and stranger," said Dale, as he led the family through the empty barn. Once he reached the back wall, Dale opened a door and walked out, prompting the others to follow him.

Once Kendra and Seth stepped out through the back door, they could see the _ice_ that Goldenrod had mentioned.

Standing before everyone were several massive blocks of ice, each of which were a good fifteen to twenty feet tall. The blocks came in a number of peculiar shapes. However, upon closer observation, it became apparent that the shapes were in fact letters.

As the blocks had all been arranged in a row, Kendra stepped around to a different angle, and could now see for her own eyes just what the letters spelled out.

 **IM SORRY**

"I'm sorry?" asked Seth. "Why didn't any of you fairies tell us what this said?"

"We don't know how to read English!" replied Passion.

"But I know someone who does," said Mrs. Sorenson. "This was Skyfrost."

"It can't be him!" blurted Seth. "It just can't."

" _Skyfrost_ knows how to spell. Because I've been teaching him."

"Maybe it was Maelstrom. Trying to frame Skyfrost or something."

"Seth, I recognize Skyfrost's penmanship. Except that he just forms the letters with his breath, and doesn't use a pen. Is there is even a word for that?"

" _Breathmanship_?" asked Warren.

"Whatever," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Also, Skyfrost hasn't learned how to use punctuation marks, and there's no apostrophe in his message."

"Forget the grammar lesson!" shouted Seth. "How could Skyfrost even be behind this?"

"Maybe he let the other dragons onto the preserve, somehow?" asked Ingrid.

"Unlikely," said Grandpa. "But Skyfrost, and for that matter, Firesquall, both have free access to the preserve. So it's possible that Skyfrost brought in something that caused would've caused Viola to go flying away. Something that was provided to him by Dominera. There's no other explanation for all of this."

"Why would Skyfrost do such a thing?" asked Seth, shaking his head is distraught. "He's our friend."

"Probably because Dominera forced him to do this," said Warren. "Although why he actually went through with it is another matter entirely."

"There's one thing that doesn't add up," said Mrs. Sorenson. "These letters do look like they could've been made by Skyfrost. Except, they're far bigger than the ones Skyfrost normally forms. Those are usually only half his size."

"Marla's right," said Dale. "Whatever made these letters was probably enormous. Like a full-grown dragon. Except, not too many creatures out there are literate in English."

"There was that three headed dragon that we told you about," said Seth. "The one with the self-proclaimed intelligent and independent heads. Maybe they had something to do with this."

Something definitely does not add up here," said Grandpa. "Viola flying off. The icy _I'm sorry_ message. How exactly all this happened has me baffled."

"Following Viola does not seem like an option at this point," said Dale. "She's probably already too far away for us to catch up with her, even with the assistance of Raxtus and Geminus. And beyond the gate, there's no telling what direction that Viola could be headed."

"The Oculus!" said Kendra. "We can locate Viola using the Oculus. That is... Seth can locate her using the Oculus. Not like there's much that I can do anymore."

"Kendra, don't be too hard on yourself," said Mr. Sorenson. "But you've got a point. Seth needs to look through the Oculus right away."

"Back inside the house," said Grandma. "Come on!"

The family made their way across the yard towards the patio along the rear of the house. As they reached the steps, Raxtus and Geminus approached them, accompanied by several reindeer and fairies.

"What's all the commotion?" asked Geminus. "Is everything okay?"

"It's complicated," said Grandpa. "The rest of you, go on ahead. I'll try to explain everything to Raxtus and Geminus."

The rest of the family continued onward and into the house, while Grandpa remained on the patio in order to help explain what was going on to the dragons.

Seth led the way as the other members of the family followed him through the house. He quickly made his way upstairs and into his grandparents' bedroom. Once inside, Seth removed the Oculus from the cabinet, then sat down on his grandparents' bed.

"Okay, Seth," said Grandma. "You can do this."

"Right," said Seth, as he clenched both of his hands around the Oculus. He then took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Seth envisioned Viola in his mind. The image of a gigantic cow was very easy for Seth to envision, for Viola was the only one whom he was familiar with.

Within mere seconds, Viola came into view. She was apparently flying above a forest. Only, she was not alone.

Viola technically did not appear to be flying on her own. She was currently being held in the claws of a red dragon, who rivaled the milch cow in size. From what Seth could recollect, this red dragon appeared to be the same one who had been standing guard near Skyfrost and Firesquall earlier on.

Flying alongside the red dragon was Dominera, along with several other dragons. What really caught Seth's eye were Skyfrost and Firesquall, whom the other dragons all dwarfed several times over.

"I see her!" exclaimed Seth. "And I see them, too!"

"Seth, tell us what exactly you're seeing!" exclaimed Kendra.

Seth told the others about everything he had just seen.

"The wyverns are with them, too?" asked Warren. "Then they must have had a hand in this for sure! A forced hand. Or should I say, a forced _claw_?"

"I'm getting a fix on the direction they're flying," said Seth, now looking down on the dragons from somewhere up in the sky. "They're headed southwest. Probably back to their lair!"

"We've got to go after them!" blurted Ingrid.

"Absolutely not," said Grandma. "Going after Viola with all of those dragons surrounding her would be suicide."

Seth opened his eyes, allowing his perspective to instantly return to his own eyeballs.

"But they have our milch cow!" exclaimed Ingrid. "I don't even want to imagine what those dragons might want to do with her! And as long as she's gone, what are we going to do about magical milk?"

"We have a moderate amount in storage," replied Dale. "It should last us for a little while, provided we conserve it. And we also have some walrus butter, too."

"This just keeps getting worse and worse," said Seth. "I can kind of see where Dominera would be so anxious as to abduct Skyfrost and Firesquall. But what would she even want with a milch cow? Dragons wouldn't benefit from drinking magical milk."

"The milk may not even be for the dragons," said Warren. "They could have stolen Viola for some other reason. Perhaps they want to harvest her manure. Or maybe even use Viola as a way to barter with another party."

"Perhaps they aren't actually interested in Viola or her milk," said Grandma. "Maybe stealing Viola is their way of saying _Don't mess with us_."

"Oh, I want to mess with them more than ever," said Seth, as he clasped his fingers together and formed a frown on his face.

"We can't let them get away with this!" said Kendra.

"You children can't let the prospect of vengeance get the best of you," said Grandma. "If the dragons are heading back to their lair, the best course of action would be to return there when they let their guard down and rescue Viola, along with the wyverns."

"That already was our plan," said Ingrid. "Minus the part about Viola, of course."

"I don't like this any better than the rest of you," said Mrs. Sorenson. "But your grandmother is right. The best thing you can do would be to lay low, then sneak back into the lair and get back Skyfrost, Firesquall _and_ Viola."

"I'm still concerned," said Kendra. "Not only does this seem really _dangerous_ , but even if we succeed, what's going to stop those dragons from coming back and reclaiming everyone they've already kidnapped?"

Grandma shook her head and let out a sigh. "I don't have an answer for that question. I'm sorry."


	14. Rescue Mission

**Chapter 14: Rescue Mission**

Kendra and Seth both found themselves getting very little sleep for the rest of the night. The situation had left them far too overstimulated for either of one them to so much as even gradually fall asleep.

Eventually, Kendra opened her eyes and saw that the digital clock on her bedside table currently showed that the time was now six fifty-one. Although she felt somewhat groggy, Kendra knew that by this point, it would be futile for her try and go back to sleep. Alas, Kendra slipped out of bed and stuck her feet into a pair of slippers.

"Kendra?" asked Ingrid, who currently had her face concealed underneath the covers of her own bed.

"It's almost seven," said Kendra. "I barely slept this morning."

Ingrid tossed her covers off of her head and looked over at Kendra. "That makes two of us. I can't believe it's not even seven on a Saturday morning, and I'm up."

"I figured I might as well get up. I'm still uptight over everything that's happened."

"What if it doesn't stop here?" asked Ingrid. "Dominera sounds like she's really powerful. Even if she's done with going after us and our own allies, there's no telling where else and what else she might consider going after."

"That's what worries me. I'm going to go freshen up, then go down for breakfast."

"Okay. I'll meet you down there."

Meanwhile, Seth found himself being awoken by the sound of footsteps traipsing back and forth through the second floor hallway outside his bedroom. Intrigued, in addition to not being able to sleep very well, Seth soon managed to get out of bed and washed up in the bathroom once it became available.

The family soon met at the dinner table. From the look of it, it seemed as though nobody else had gotten a very good night's sleep. Grandma entered the dining room carrying a tray full of steaming mugs. Once she set the tray down on the table, it was apparent that the mugs contained either coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. The kids each helped themselves to a mug of hot chocolate, the taste of which seemed to help perk them up.

"I think we all needed that," said Ingrid, after taking a long sip of hot chocolate. "It's just kind of disturbing to think that the milk that we're drinking is now in scarce supply."

"Unfortunately, I've had to take a few liberties since last night," said Grandpa. "For one, I have removed Skyfrost and Firesquall's names from the register. Until we can get this whole thing straightened out, they will not be allowed to return to Fablehaven without authorization."

Seth slammed his free hand down against the tabletop. "That's not fair!"

"I'm sorry. But we can't have dragons that we can't control flying around without regulation. They clearly had some involvement in Viola's abduction. Who knows what else they might do. Also, Bracken will be with us shortly. He's currently investigating other areas of the preserve, just to make sure that everything else is in order after what went on last night."

Before long, everyone had finished their drinks, followed by several of Grandma's homemade waffles, topped with banana slices. After everyone had eaten, the family adjourned to the living room, just as Bracken entered the house through the front door.

"Bracken!" exclaimed Kendra, as she ran up to the unicorn and gave him a hug. He hugged her back in return.

"Well, it doesn't seem like any other part of the preserve has been affected," said Bracken. "But I still don't get how Skyfrost could've done all this. Not without additional help, anyway."

"He shouldn't have been able to lead any unauthorized beings onto the preserve," said Grandpa. "The barrier would've repelled them had they gotten too close."

"And the barrier appeared to still be intact. If it's been breached somehow, they did a very good job of covering their tracks."

Soon everyone had seated themselves upon either a couch or a chair.

"I'm done with waiting," said Seth. "Let's just set out for the lair already and get our friends back!"

"You're going to need a plan," said Grandma. "Rushing into danger like this is fool-hearty. You should know that."

"If we're going to succeed, we'll need to do everything in our power to avoid being caught," said Warren. "As it stands now, we're no match for any one of those dragons."

"I wish I still had my powers," said Kendra. "If I could become fairyprime, I'd probably have the power to take on every last one of those dragons."

"You guys have killed dragons and wyverns before," said Ingrid.

"Not a horde of them," said Warren. "Which is what concerns me. I'm thinking that we'll need to resort to stealth. Those other dragons won't attack us if they don't even know that we're there."

"Raxtus is a must," said Seth. "His invisibility would be invaluable."

"There's also the invisibility gloves," said Kendra. "At least one of us would be able to wear them."

"And the fairies can just use their magic to render the rest of us invisible as well..."

"No way!" stated Bracken.

"What's wrong?"

"If we render someone invisible, not only would it be a considerable drain on our magic, but the hex is prone to wearing off shortly thereafter. It'd be a huge risk."

"Then that means, only one of us would be safe with the gloves," said Seth.

"So who would go?" asked Dale. "Raxtus and only one knight?"

"It's risky, but it's probably the safest option," said Bracken. "I can hide myself alongside the party, but I wouldn't be of much use in that state."

"It's just as well," said Grandpa. "If a smaller group goes on this trip, they're less likely to get caught."

"It's best if I go," said Seth. "I've got my angelkind abilities, so I might be the most viable. I ought to scan the lair with the Oculus first, so that we know the most direct route to where Skyfrost, Firesquall, and even Viola are."

"I've got the Oculus," said Grandma, placing the spherical artifact upon the table. "Hope you manage to find them."

Seth picked up the Oculus, clenched it in his hands, and shut his eyes. He proceeded to think about Skyfrost and Firesquall. Surely enough, the two wyverns came into view together. They appeared to be back in that same cavern that Seth had last seen them in the previous night.

Seth then shifted his view back through the tunnel that led out of the cavern. Standing guard outside the tunnel was the four-armed blue dragon that Seth had recalled seeing at an earlier point, and not the red one that had been there the previous night.

Making a mental note of his starting position, Seth proceeded to direct his viewpoint throughout the lair. He made his way down several corridors, trying to remember every time he turned, and what direction it was. The lair was large, but did not appear to be too maze-like. The different corridors and tunnels were easy for him to remember, due to their varying lengths and the positioning of hallways. If he took a turn that led to a dead end, Seth merely backed himself up and continued onward, looking for an alternate path.

After another minute or so of searching, Seth soon found the entrance to the lair. But he couldn't stop now. Instead, Seth allowed his viewpoint to retreat back into the lair. Relying on his memory, Seth made his way back through the lair, and soon found the blue dragon who had been guarding the tunnel that led to the cavern where Skyfrost and Firesquall were. He had now memorized the route as best he could. If he were to go back to the lair for real, Seth felt that he would be able to navigate his way around to the same cavern.

However, Viola still needed to be located, for Seth had not stumbled upon her when he had searched through the lair. Envisioning the immense bovine in his mind, Viola's large body soon came into view. Surely enough, Viola also appeared to be in another large cavern.

Given that the lair was large enough to house a group of dragons, there was more than enough space for Viola to move around in. As had been the case with the wyverns, there was but a single exit from the cavern that Viola was being being confined to. Intrigued, Seth moved himself through the exit tunnel.

Upon emerging from the tunnel, Seth immediately saw the reason for why Viola had not left. At the entrance to the tunnel stood an orange dragon. This dragon was still unfamiliar to Seth, but he possessed a pair of scorpion-like pincers in place of where his claws otherwise should have been, as well as a tail with a long spike at the end. Its underside bore a yellow and black pattern, similar in appearance to hazard stripes. Although unfamiliar to him, Seth felt that this dragon was still a force to be reckoned with.

Seth then began to explore the tunnels from his current position. After a bit of searching, Seth came across a corridor that looked somewhat familiar. After a bit more guesswork, Seth realized that he had now come across an area he had been through whilst searching for the exit after locating Skyfrost and Firesquall. After making his way through a few more tunnels, Seth at last found the exit to the lair once again.

Finally, Seth proceeded to open his eyes, allowing his perspective to return to the living room.

"I've got it," said Seth, as he set the Oculus down on the coffee table. "I've familiarized myself with the lair. If I go back there, I'll know where to find Skyfrost and Firesquall, as well as Viola.

"Can you give us directions?" asked Warren.

Seth winced. "Not exactly. I kind of just pictured everything in my head. I feel like if I go, I'll be able to find my way around. Mapping it seems kind of hard, though. The whole place is an underground maze. But I'll know where to go once I'm there."

"I still don't like the idea of Seth going all by himself," said Grandpa.

"I'll be with him," said Bracken. "And so will Raxtus."

"I'll go," said Kendra.

"And just how will you conceal yourself?" asked Seth.

"We'll share the invisibility gloves. Fairykind or not, I need to prove myself. That I still have what it takes to be courageous."

"Kendra, you don't have to," said Grandpa. "Warren, would you be willing to..."

"NO!" snapped Kendra. "I _want_ to do this. I'm not afraid."

Grandpa sighed. "Very well. You've probably endured worse missions than this one."

"Her résumé _is_ quite impressive," said Warren. "And besides, the whole point of this operation is to _not_ get caught. I have complete faith in Kendra."

"Thank you," said Kendra.

"Very well," said Grandpa. "Kendra. Seth. Bracken. I want for the three of you to take the Translocator and meet up with Raxtus. From there, you are to travel to the lair, infiltrate it, and locate the captives. Do you understand?"

"Absolutely," said Seth, who nodded, as did Kendra and Bracken.

After assembling all of their gear together, Kendra, Seth and Bracken all went out into the backyard and made their way over to the dragon family's lair, where Raxtus and Geminus were currently waiting around.

"Good morning," said Geminus, who spoke in a tone that did not sound as though she was very happy.

"Bracken said you guys were probably going to come up with a plan," said Raxtus.

"Indeed we did," said Bracken. "It's going to be a stealth mission. Only Kendra, Seth and myself are going. Plus you, Raxtus. We're going to slip into the lair real quick. In and out as fast as possible."

"I understand. When can we get going?"

"Right now. Kendra, do you have the Translocator?"

"I do," replied Kendra, as she removed the aforementioned artifact from her bag.

"Good. Then let's get this over and done with."

"Hold it!" blurted Geminus, just as Kendra began to twist the Translocator in her hands. "This whole thing sounds extremely dangerous! It's more severe than your previous missions. What if something goes wrong?"

"Geminus, if we don't help the others, there's no telling what might happen to them," said Raxtus.

"I know. But isn't there a better way than this? I'm worried enough as it is."

"It's a risk we need to take," said Bracken. "We've braved the Demon Domain. We can brave this."

Geminus took in a deep breath. "I understand. I'm just... concerned. Good luck, to all of you."

"Thanks," said Kendra, as she passed the Translocator over to Seth. "Okay, Seth. Take us to the lair."

"Got it," said Seth, as he set his grasp around the middle of the Translocator. Once Kendra, Bracken and Raxtus were all touching it, Seth closed his eyes. In his mind, Seth envisioned the countryside by the lake, where Skyboom had initially dropped him and Warren off yesterday.

Once Seth opened his eyes, he found that he was now standing in the same exact spot that he had pictured in his mind.

"Whoa!" gasped Bracken, as he and the others all gazed at their new surroundings. "Where are we?"

"See that lake?" asked Seth, as he looked out at the calm, clear lake that stood before the group. At the far end of the lake, which was more than half a mile away, stood a mountain range.

"Hard not to," quipped Kendra.

"Across it is the entrance to Dominera's lair. I didn't want to send us in any closer, in case there's someone guarding it."

"Okay then," said Raxtus. "This is it. Bracken, hide yourself. Kendra and Seth, get on my back."

Bracken proceeded to vanish, leaving behind a brief puff of colorful sparkles, while Kendra and Seth both climbed up onto Raxtus' backside and sat down in his saddle. Kendra proceeded to remove both of the invisibility gloves from her bag and passed one over to Seth.

"Here goes," said Seth, as he slipped the glove over his right hand. Once it settled into position, Seth watched as his entire body faded out of view, only for it to flicker in and out as he set his hands down upon Raxtus' neck.

Likewise, Kendra put on her glove, and became invisible, just like her brother.

"We're ready, Raxtus," said Kendra.

"Okay," said Raxtus, as he too allowed his body to become invisible. "Let's do this. Which way Seth?"

"Should be straight across the lake. Fly over and I'll guide you from there."

Although he could not be seen, Kendra and Seth felt as Raxtus extended his wings outward. He then proceeded to lift himself up into the air and began to fly across the lake.

"I see the ledge," said Seth, as the cliffs came into view on the other side of the lake. Up ahead, a bit to the left."

"I think I see what you're talking about," said Raxtus, as he flew over to the ledge that Seth had spotted. Within seconds, Raxtus came down for a landing upon the ledge.

"Where do we go from here?" asked Kendra, looking up at the face of the cliff. From what she could tell, there did not appear to be any features of interest.

"There should be a fake wall right around here," said Seth. "It's an illusion. You can pass right through it."

Raxtus stepped up towards the wall, then stopped right in front of it.

"Raxtus?" asked Kendra, wondering why the invisible dragon had stopped.

"Seth's right," said Raxtus. "You can't see it, but I just stuck my claw straight through the wall! Brace yourselves, because I'm going in."

Raxtus continued to walk forward. Kendra squinted her face as the wall got closer and closer, out of fear that she was going to crash directly into it. She held her arms in front of her face, but just as she reached the wall, her body passed directly through it and into a huge tunnel that sloped downward.

"Whoa," said Kendra, looking down the tunnel in awe.

"Seth, are you sure you know where we need to go to find the others?" asked Raxtus.

"I'm pretty sure," replied Seth. "So let's get a move on while I still have this place fresh in my memory."

Raxtus began to glide down the slope, moving at a speed that would not create too much noise, but also wasn't too slow. After about a minute or so, Raxtus reached the bottom of the slope and continued onward down the tunnel.

After another minute or so, Raxtus stopped at a four-way intersection.

"Which way from here?" asked Raxtus, speaking in a not-too-loud whisper.

"Left," replied Seth.

Raxtus continued down the path on the left. However, he stopped after a moment.

"Raxtus?" asked Seth. "What's wrong?"

Raxtus made a shush. "Hear that?"

Kendra and Seth could both hear loud, heavy footsteps slowly approaching from further down the tunnel. Raxtus then slid over towards a wall and landed on the floor.

"Hold still and keep your mouths shut," whispered Raxtus. "They won't know we're here."

A moment later, a large yellow dragon came turning around from a corner that was up ahead. She turned her face to look down the tunnel towards the group. Seth recognized the dragon from earlier, but wasn't sure what she was capable of. She then began to walk down the tunnel, getting closer with each step she took.

Kendra was hoping for her life that the dragon had not noticed them, and would simply continue down the tunnel.

The dragon came closer and closer. Once her huge frame was situated only a few feet away from the group, the dragon came to a stop. Kendra and Seth could both feel their hearts pounding furiously within their chests.

"It would appear that we have intruders," said the dragon. Even though they were still completely invisible, the dragon turned her head down directly at the group. Before any of them could react, the dragon reached down with her claw and clasped it around Raxtus.

"No!" gasped Kendra, speaking as softly as her lungs allowed her to.

"Yes," said the dragon, as she lifted Raxtus and his two passengers up into the air. "I sensed you three from a mile away. There's no getting past _me_."


	15. Outmatched

**Chapter 15: Outmatched**

Kendra and Seth stared up at the large, yellow dragon that was holding Raxtus within her claws. Even though they were invisible, it felt as though the intimidating dragon knew exactly what they were thinking.

Suddenly, Raxtus allowed himself to become visible. "It's no use hiding," he said. "She's got us."

"Interesting," said the yellow dragon. "You must be one those fairy dragons that Skyfrost and Firesquall told us about."

Kendra went ahead and slipped her glove off of her hand. Once she had become visible again, Seth removed his glove, causing his body to fade back into view as well.

"Seth, I remember you," said the dragon. "But who is this female?"

"I-I-I-I'm Kendra," muttered Kendra.

"I didn't ask for your name. But I'm not terribly interested in you, anyway. You don't stand out as being anything remarkable."

"How did you find us?" asked Seth.

"Because no one goes anywhere in this lair without Woxull finding out. My senses are unparalleled. I can hear a heart beat from a mile away. And even though you three thought you could fool us by making yourselves invisible, I could still sense where you were the moment you set foot in this place."

"Kendra, we've got to get out of here!" said Raxtus.

"Right," said Kendra, as she opened up her bag. "I'll get..."

"I don't want you playing with this bag of tricks," said Woxull, as she wrapped one of her massive claws around Kendra, preventing her from moving her arms around and reaching into her bag.

Bracken suddenly appeared on the floor before Woxull, his hands glowing with flowing white energy.

"That's enough!" hissed Bracken. "Put them down, now!"

"I'm surprised I missed you," said Woxull, looming down at Bracken. "And just what are you going to me do if I don't?'

Bracken clapped his hands together, causing Raxtus, Kendra and Seth to appear on the ground next to him.

"Kendra, hurry!" blurted Bracken.

As Kendra reached into her bag once again, Woxull swung her tail around and successfully slammed it into all four members of the group. The impact was fairly harsh, but not unbearable, although it managed to knock them all off of their feet.

Woxull then reached down with her claws. She grabbed Raxtus in one claw, and Kendra, Seth and Bracken in the other, forcefully pressing the trio together.

"I'm only going to say this once," said Woxull. "Resist me once more, and I will attack you again with far more strength than I just used."

"Kendra, I think it's best if we just go along with her right now," said Raxtus.

Kendra nodded. As long as she was unable to operate the Translocator, there was seemingly nothing that she, or any of her allies, could do.

Clenching her captives securely within her claws, Woxull proceeded to scurry through the corridors of the lair. Kendra and Seth both knew exactly where Woxull intended on taking them, and they were dreading it.

After turning down a few corridors, Woxull soon arrived in a cavern that looked all too familiar to Seth. It was the same place where he had initially encountered Dominera. And just like on his previous visit, Dominera was around. Only this time, she was curled up on the floor.

"Woxull," said Dominera, raising her head. "What brings you here?"

"Look who I found snooping around the lair," said Woxull, as she lowered her claws in front of Dominera, and released Kendra, Seth, Bracken and Raxtus from her grasp.

"Well, well, well," said Dominera, as she stood up, allowing her huge body to tower over the group. "It's one of those humans from yesterday. Along with some new faces. And a tiny, little dragon."

Dominera bent downward, her head looming before Raxtus. "Woxull, do you suppose..."

"He's one's of those fairy dragons?" asked Woxull. "That's what I've gathered."

"Boy," said Dominera, pointing towards Seth. "Your name is Seth, is it not?"

Seth nodded.

"I told you and that other human you were with yesterday to leave this lair and never return. I spared your lives, when I could've easily taken them. I gave you a fair warning. Why have you returned?"

"I think you know exactly why I'm back," replied Seth.

Dominera chuckled. "Did you really think that you could just sneak into my lair, run around and liberate your friends without getting caught?"

"Would've been nice."

"You've been completely unreasonable this whole time," said Kendra. "You can't just take what isn't yours!"

"And why is that? I'm a dragon. I don't have to abide by human laws and ethics. I can do whatever I want. And none of you are powerful enough to stop me. Believe me."

Dominera reached her claw down towards Kendra. Kendra immediately began to run away, but was too slow to escape the incoming claw.

"Foolish human," said Dominera, as she raised Kendra up into the air. "As weak as you seem, I'm starting to get annoyed with your kind lately, I can assure you. You'll be the first of them to go."

"Put her down!" roared Bracken.

Watching Dominera escalate her threatening towards Kendra, Seth could feel as the anger within his body grew stronger and stronger.

"Leave my sister alone!" blared Seth, as his angel wings came bursting out of his back, giving off a golden glow. There was a sudden flash of golden light, prompting Dominera to inexplicably release Kendra from her claw.

Kendra screamed as she fell down towards the floor of the cave, only to slow down partway and hover the rest of the way towards Bracken, who had his hands directed at her.

"Whoa!" said Woxull, as she poised her snout towards the group and began sniffing. "I can't verify the scent, but he really is an angel!"

"That's right!" snapped Seth. "I just forced the big and powerful Dominera to let my sister go!"

"Seth!" exclaimed Kendra ."Quick, stop her!"

Seth squinted his eyes shut, and continued trying to build up more energy within his wings.

"What is he doing?" asked Dominera.

"It's not working!" blurted Seth, and he continued on trying to focus his mind on Dominera. "I don't think I can win this!"

"It might never truly stop her," said Bracken. "Your power can only go so far, and she's not a demon."

"That's right," said Dominera. "You may have made me drop your sister, which I do believe is somewhat impressive. But you've come far enough. I'm going to destroy you all!"

"Let's get out of here!" cried Raxtus, as he picked up Kendra, Seth and Bracken in his claws and began to fly towards the entrance of the cavern.

"Dominera," began Woxull, "should I..."

Just before the group would've reached the entrance to the room, a bunch of other dragons magically appeared before the group. One of which, a purple wyvern, was now guarding the entrance to the cavern.

Raxtus stopped on the spot, looking up at the enormous purple wyvern. Likewise, Kendra, Seth and Bracken also looked up at the many dragons that were now surrounding them.

"What's with them?" asked the purple wyvern, looking down at the group.

"It's that fairy dragon, too!" blurted Maelstrom.

"On what grounds have you summoned us here?" asked Skremm, the right head of the green, three-headed dragon.

"I want these humans and their fairy dragon _friend_ destroyed," replied Dominera.

"You want I should crush them?" asked the red dragon they had seen before.

"Or pummel them to death?" asked the dark blue dragon that sported four arms, punching an upper and a lower fist at the same time.

"Yes," said Dominera. "Qualvor and Jallun are the finest warriors I have. With Qualvor's strength and Jallun's fighting prowess, you folks don't stand a chance. And this way, I don't have to even get my claws dirty."

Qualvor and Jallun both loomed over the knights, staring down at them with intent eyes.

"You can't do this!" cried Seth. "The only reason we came here was to get our friends back! Not to fight anyone."

"Is that what this is all about?" asked Iplekk. "You want your wyvern friends back so badly?"

"What are you getting at?" asked Kendra, who didn't want to hear where this conversation was headed. At least it had bought them some more time before Qualvor and Jallun would have destroyed them.

"If these humans want their so-called friends back, maybe we should just let them have them," said Klorgg.

"What do you mean?" asked Dominera.

"Show them that the wyverns are on your side," said Iplekk. "Do whatever it takes."

Dominera laughed. "Of course. We wouldn't want the wyverns to not cooperate!"

Dominera went ahead and allowed her eyes to glow. In a flash of light, Skyfrost and Firesquall both appeared by Dominera's side. By comparison to the rest of the dragons, the two wyverns were tiny.

"Skyfrost!" blurted Seth. "Firesquall!"

"What's going on?" exclaimed Skyfrost.

"Come on, Skyforst," said Firesquall. "Let's just get out of here!"

The two juvenile wyverns lunged towards the group, soaring directly above the floor. However, after flying for only a few yards, both Skyfrost and Firesquall inexplicably froze in midair, as though they had been caught by some unseen force.

"Hey!" snapped Firesquall.

"What's going on?" asked Kendra.

"You wyverns are going to listen to me, and abide by my rules," said Dominera. "I don't like having to use force. But if that's what it takes, then that's exactly what I'll use!"

Dominera blinked once more, producing another flash of purple light. Once it faded, the wyverns lowered down to the ground, where they assumed standing positions.

"Boys?" asked Raxtus. "Are you two okay?"

Saying nothing, the two wyverns leaped back up into the air and charged directly towards Raxtus. Before anyone could react, Skyfrost and Firesquall both tackled Raxtus, knocking the fairy dragon onto his back.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" shrieked Seth.

"Dominera has them under some kind of spell!" blurted Bracken, as Raxtus struggled to knock both Skyfrost and Firesquall away from his body.

Down, but not out, the two wyverns got back up onto their talons and once again charged towards Raxtus.

"Leave him alone!" cried Kendra.

"They're not about to listen to you," said Dominera, as Skyfrost and Firesquall both jumped onto Raxtus.

"I don't want to hurt them!" grumbled Raxtus, as he struggled while trying to control the two wyverns that were slamming away at him with their claws and tails.

"This is interesting," said Dominera. "A lot more fun to watch than just letting Qualvor and Jallun curb-stomp you weaklings. And once they're done with the fairy dragon, the rest of you will follow."

"ENOUGH!" shouted Bracken, as he assumed his unicorn form. He quickly shot a beam of rainbow energy from his horn towards Skyfrost and Firesquall, just as Raxtus knocked the two of them away from his body a second time.

"Is that the best you can do?" asked Dominera, as the rest of her fellow dragons all laughed.

"Seth, help me!" said Bracken, prompting Seth to set the palms of his hands upon Bracken's neck.

Bracken shot another beam of energy, brighten than the previous one, at Skyfrost and Firesquall. However, it failed to make any difference.

"All right!" huffed Kendra. "That tears it!"

Kendra whipped the Emerock from out of her bag, then focused on the ground beneath where Skyfrost and Firesquall were enduring the blast of energy that Bracken was exerting upon them.

A moment later, several cylinders made of rock emerged from the ground around Skyfrost and Firesquall. The tops of the cylinders curved inward once they went above the wyverns, effectively trapping the two of them in a cage made of rocks.

"Good idea," said Seth, watching as the two wyverns struggled against the rock bars of the cage, but to no avail. "They can't attack Raxtus from in there!"

"Interesting," said Dominera, "but we've got better tricks. Trust me."

Just then, Kendra and Seth watched as the purple wyvern flapped one wing forward, exerting a bolt of lightning at the cage that caused it to suddenly crumble.

"Whoa!" shrieked Seth.

"Nice shot, Nightbolt," said Dominera, as Skyfrost and Firesquall both lunged at Raxtus once again.

"Enough is enough," huffed Bracken, now in his humanoid form again. He quickly reached into Kendra's bag and pulled out the Translocator. "Mind if I borrow this?"

A glowing sphere of white energy suddenly appeared around the entire group, including Skyfrost and Firesquall, who were in the midst of clinging onto Raxtus. Bracken immediately twisted the Translocator and shut his eyes.

The cavern that surrounded the group began to fade out of existence from the perspectives of both Kendra and Seth, despite the fact that neither of them were actually touching the Translocator, or even Bracken.

A moment later, Kendra and Seth found themselves back in the yard at Fablehaven, along with Bracken, Raxtus, Skyfrost and Firesquall. The two wyverns were still in the midst of attacking Raxtus.

"Stop it, you two!" snapped Raxtus, as he once again struggled to toss Skyfrost and Firesquall off of his body. The two wyverns went flying onto the grass, but immediately regained their footing.

"Calm down!" hissed Bracken, as he immediately transformed back into a unicorn and exerted a spiraling blast of rainbow energy towards the two wyverns. The blast of light had seemingly stunned the two of them.

"Bracken, what are you doing?" asked Seth.

"I'm trying to dispel the hold that Dominera placed on these two!" gasped Bracken. "She didn't use darkness, so my power will only do so much. But now that we're far from Dominera, I might stand a chance."

Raxtus proceeded to open his mouth and shot out a wave of fiery, white energy at the two wyverns, aiding Bracken in his retaliation against them.

"Stop!" blurted Skyfrost.

"We're sorry!" cried Firesquall.

Bracken and Raxtus both ceased their energy attacks.

"Skyfrost!" gasped Kendra. "Firesquall! Are you two okay?"

"Yeah!" replied Skyfrost, who was breathing in and out rather heavily.

"Oh, thank goodness you're back!" said Grandpa, who was approaching the group from the direction of the house, accompanied by the other members of the family.

"What happened?" asked Dale. "Where's Viola?"

"I think these two have a bit of explaining to do," said Grandma, as Geminius flew down next to Skyfrost and Firesquall.

"Are you boys okay?" asked Geminus.

"We're fine now," replied Firesquall, as he turned to face the group. "Thank you for rescuing us."

"But Viola!" exclaimed Skyfrost. "You guys didn't get to her first, did you?"

"No," replied Bracken, shaking his head. "She's still being held captive."

"Which brings us to another point," said Grandpa. "You two wouldn't happen to know how Viola got captured last night, would you? Because we weren't able to piece everything together."

"It was me," replied Skyfrost, lowering his head down towards the ground. "I kidnapped her."

"We got your message," said Warren, as he winced. But... you mind telling us how exactly you managed to carry a cow that weighs more than a family of elephants?"

"We're getting ahead of ourselves," said Firesquall. "See, because of Maelstrom, Dominera knew that we resided here at Fablehaven. And what she really wanted from Fablehaven was Viola."

"Why?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"She wanted a milch cow, so that she could procure her own supply of magical milk," replied Skyfrost.

"What does she want with magical milk?" asked Dale.

"She wouldn't tell us," answered Firesquall. "But she sounded like she really needed something that could produce milk for her."

Grandma nodded. "Of course. Only mammalian creatures are capable of producing milk. None of those dragons could produce their own milk if they wanted to."

"And instead of devoting all the time and effort it would otherwise take for them to cultivate their own milch cow, they steal ours," said Warren.

"Which brings us to another question," said Grandpa. "Skyfrost, you mind explaining how exactly Viola was kidnapped?"

"Dominera helped me," said Skyfrost. "But I use the term _helped_ very loosely."

"We all flew back to Fablehaven last night," said Firesquall. "When we got there, Dominera used her power to make Skyfrost enormous. And invisible."

"And because you were so big, that's how you were able to tear the roof off the barn, and take off with Viola," said Ingrid.

"I didn't want to do it," said Skyfrost. "Really! But Dominera was testing me. If I went to you for help, that might've taken too long. She said that if I didn't come back with Viola in five minutes, or if anything peculiar happened, they'd kill Firesquall. What was I supposed to do?"

Grandpa took a deep breath. "Skyfrost. I had no idea."

"Once I came back with Viola, Dominera restored me to my normal self, then had Qualvor carry the cow all the way back to the lair."

"That dragon is _strong_!" said Firesquall. "He could probably shatter a mountain just by smacking it with one claw!"

"That red dragon we saw earlier?" asked Kendra.

"Yeah."

"You'd better tell us everything you know about these dragons," said Grandma. "While they're still fresh in your mind."

"Well, Dominera you know," said Skyfrost. "She's capable of powerful magic."

"Then there's Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk," said Firesquall. "They're that three-headed dragon. They're smart, though. _Really_ smart."

"They figured out many human languages, simply by studying them," said Skyfrost. "No magic or anything."

"There's three wyverns. Maelstrom, Skyboom and Nightbolt. Very fast and very dangerous."

"Woxull, who spotted you guys earlier with her heightened senses."

"Qualvor, as we said before, is really strong," said Firesquall. "And Jallun, who has four claws, is an expert fighter."

"And then there's Zojj," said Skyfrost. "He's poisonous."

"I think that's all of them," said Firesquall.

"Understood," said Seth. "So what are we going to do now? We've still got to rescue Viola!"

"We..." said Grandpa, "are going to need to come up with a **much** better strategy."


	16. Alternate Measures

**Chapter 16: Alternate Measures**

A fair amount of time had passed since the group had returned home from Dominera's lair with Skyfrost and Firesquall. While the dragons had returned to their own lair in the backyard, the family had adjourned back into the house and into the living room, where most of its members were currently sitting.

Of the family, Grandpa was not present in the room. Instead, he had gone into his study alone, in an effort to try and come up with a solution with one of his contacts.

At that moment, Grandma walked into the living room, carrying a tray containing a teapot and several teacups. She set the tray down on the coffee table, and began pouring some steaming tea into one of the cups.

"I hope everyone is okay with Earl Grey and honey," said Grandma. "I'd love nothing more than to make everybody some hot chocolate, but as long as Viola isn't around, we're going to have to conserve what's left of her milk."

"We'll get her back," said Seth.

"How, though?" asked Kendra, picking up a cup of piping hot tea from the tray.

"We'll do it _somehow_."

"Kendra's got a point," said Bracken. "We barely got out of that place alive. And that was only because the dragons were practically toying with us. They didn't suspect that we had something like the Translocator on us."

"I was so afraid that they were going to kill us," said Kendra. "We were totally defenseless against those dragons. I felt like we were mice at a cat convention!"

"Maybe we should go back and try again," said Seth. "Now that we've got Skyfrost and Firesquall back, it might be possible that we could just zip back through the lair to where they're keeping Viola. If we're fast enough, we might even be able to get in and out before Woxull or somebody can detect us."

"That sounds incredibly risky," said Mr. Sorenson. "Not to mention, dangerous. If you guys make one wrong move while you're running around, even if it's on the wyverns, you could get caught very easily."

"Especially on the wyverns," said Dale. "We all thought you thought you'd be okay being very quiet and invisible. But going in on the wyverns, that plan seems like the complete opposite of what happened originally."

"We would've been fine if it hadn't have been for Woxull," said Seth. "I don't know how she did it, but she sensed us coming all the way from another corner of the lair."

"If only there was a way to make oneself completely undetectable," said Ingrid. "I mean, we have the means of rendering someone invisible. But Woxull was still able to hear you."

"And smell us," said Kendra. "She's like some sort of super-powered bloodhound."

"Bracken, is there any way to muffle out sound that you're aware of?" asked Seth. "Like a magic spell or anything? Oh, and a way to cancel out scents entirely would also be appreciated."

Bracken shook his head. "Sorry, Seth. There's no magic I'm aware of that's capable of that sort of thing. Mind you, my field of magical knowledge is mostly limited to that of fairies. If there is magic out there that can do this sort of thing, it goes beyond the scope of myself and my kin."

"Maybe we should just go back later," said Ingrid. "Wait until Woxull falls asleep. How's she going to notice if anyone's running around if she's asleep?"

"I don't recommend that," said Warren. "If Woxull's as sensitive as the others claim she is, then she can probably detect sounds and scents that are out of the ordinary, even in her sleep. If enough loud noise is capable of waking one of us up in the middle of the night, the same could be true for her."

"But she lives in a lair full of other dragons that must stomp around at all hours," said Seth.

"It's possible that she's just _used_ to certain noises," said Grandma. "And that she's simply able to filter them out. Or else, she'd never be able to get any sleep."

"Kids, remember how I've told you that when I was growing up, I lived near a railway?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "Well, trains would blow their horn whenever they approached the local crossing, no matter what time it was. Those horns were loud, but growing up near them, I got used to them, as did my parents and everyone else in our neighborhood. I usually slept very well most nights."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" asked Kendra. "It doesn't seem like there's any feasible way past Woxull."

"It's not all bad," said Dale. "At least with Skyfrost and Firesquall back home with us, Dominera and her crew have no means of getting back into Fablehaven."

"Does that even matter at this point?" asked Ingrid. "It sounds like all they really wanted from here was Viola. And they've got her. I mean, at least we're safe. Getting back the wyverns let us win the battle. But are we going to win the war?"

"It sounds like going back into that lair would be suicide," said Warren. "But we've got to get Viola back. And... I'm not sure just how we'd be able to do that."

"What if we send Skyfrost and Firesquall back into the lair, but with the Translocator?" asked Seth.

"Won't the other dragons notice it?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"Not if they hide it. I know! We can send in Bracken with them, and he can conceal himself and the Translocator. The wyverns will get caught, sure. But they can just claim that they've defected from us. If that works, then all the wyverns have to do is get to Viola and have Bracken utilize the Translocator to bring the four of them back here to Fablehaven."

"You're banking too much on everything going smoothly," said Warren. "I appreciate the thought. But there's too many risks involved. What if Dominera and her pack don't buy their story? Also, who's to say that they'll immediately trust Skyfrost and Firesquall? Dominera could just as easily have them imprisoned them like they were before. It's unlikely that the wyverns would be given the run of the lair, and be able to simply walk up to Viola."

"He's got a point," said Grandma. "We're going to be need a plan that's absolutely foolproof."

"Let's face it," said Ingrid, as she crossed her arms together. "We're hopelessly outmatched."

"We may be outmatched," said Kendra. "But this is less our about relying on strength, and more about using our wits."

"That three-headed dragon has us beat in the brains department, too," said Seth. "I don't want to give up or anything, but where are we supposed to go from here?"

"And then there's the matter of my whole fairy situation," said Kendra, letting out a sigh.

"Kendra, we're not even sure where to begin on that front," said Bracken.

Kendra shook her head. "I think I need to step outside for a moment."

Kendra got up from her seat and made her way out of the living room. She opened up the front door and walked out into the front garden, where numerous fairies were busy fluttering and buzzing about over the beds of flowers and bird baths.

A pink fairy landed on the edge of a bird bath, and began to stare down at what Kendra assumed was the fairy's own reflection. Intrigued, Kendra walked towards the fairy. At first, the fairy paid Kendra no mind. However, once Kendra was only steps away from the bird bath, the fairy looked up, then turned itself around to face her. At that same moment, several other fairies that had been flying around stopped and turned their attention towards Kendra.

"Hey there," said Kendra, staring directly at the pink fairy.

The pink fairy opened her mouth, but no words appeared to be forming. Instead, sounds that were similar to bells and chimes came flowing out of the fairy's mouth. She was actually speaking in fairy tongue. However, after hearing fairy talk exclusively in plain English for the past three years, Kendra was taken aback.

"Oh, this is hopeless," said Kendra. "You fairies don't even understand what I'm saying right now, do you?"

"We understand you," said Larissa, as she flew up before Kendra, accompanied by Passion and Goldenrod.

"Yeah," said Kendra, "but only because you three have been enchanted with a translation spell."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" asked Goldenrod.

"Can you restore my powers?"

The fairy trio all shook their heads and shrugged.

"Well, no..." replied Passion.

"Then, just forget it, then!" huffed Kendra, as she ran over towards a garden chair and plopped herself down into it.

Kendra felt completely empty at this point. She bent her head down and covered her face with her hands. Part of her wanted to cry. But she knew that this mess was mainly her own fault, even if she had been unaware of the consequences. There was nobody she could point fingers at but herself.

"This sucks," moaned Kendra. "I lost everything. The fairies don't even like me anymore!"

"I don't like you either," said Bracken, prompting Kendra to poke her head up.

"Bracken?" asked Kendra, looking around for the unicorn. Part of her wanted to see him. The other had taken offense at his sudden remark.

Bracken then materialized in front of Kendra, appearing in such a way that he already had an arm around her shoulder.

"What do you mean you don't like me?" asked Kendra.

"I _don't_ like you. I _love_ you."

Kendra felt as her heart skipped a beat, then accepted a kiss on her lips from Bracken. "Thanks, but don't scare me like that. I've got enough to worry about as it is. But I am grateful that you still care about me, fairy or no fairy."

"The whole reason I came after you was because I care. It has nothing to do with you being a fairy. Or not. Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you just there."

"It's just something I have to accept," said Kendra.

"The fairies don't hate you. But they do feel confused. This whole thing is going to take some getting used to. For everyone."

Bracken looked back towards the house, prompting Kendra to do the same. Walking towards the two of them were the other members of the family, including Grandpa.

"Hey," said Bracken. "What's going on?"

"Kendra, is everything okay?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"Not exactly," replied Kendra. "I'm still uptight and everything. But Bracken did help cheer me up a bit."

"I spoke wth Agad just now," said Grandpa, as he stopped in front of Kendra and Bracken. "I told him about the situation regarding the dragons. He went ahead and spoke to Elvom, then returned my call."

"So, what did he say?" asked Bracken.

"I think it's best if I tell everyone together. Including the other dragons. Especially Raxtus."

"Is it good news?" asked Kendra, as her eyes lit up.

Grandpa winced. "It might be a lead on what we should do next. But I don't know how it will play out from here. Come on, let's go."

Grandpa proceeded to walk around the house and into the backyard, while the rest of the group followed him.

"Seth, do you know what this is all about?" asked Kendra. "Ingrid?"

"No," replied Seth. "Grandpa hasn't told us anything. He just said that we need to tell the others about this, and charged out of the house."

"You're getting the same treatment as us," said Ingrid.

Soon Grandpa had brought the group to the entrance of the dragon family's cave.

"What is it?" asked Raxtus, as he walked up towards the entrance of the cave, followed by Geminus, Skyfrost and Firesquall.

Grandpa went ahead and told the dragons the same thing that he had just told Kendra and Bracken regarding Agad and Elvom.

"Well, what is it?" asked Skyfrost.

"This concerns you dragons the most," said Grandpa. "Especially, you, Raxtus."

"Me?" asked Raxtus. "What are you getting at, Stan?"

"When Agad spoke to Elvom, they came up with a name. Celebrant."

Everyone seemed to gasp when Grandpa spoke of the dragon king's name.

"Celebrant?" asked Raxtus. "This involves my father?"

"Yes."

"How, exactly?"

"Celebrant is a very powerful dragon," said Grandpa. "And your father."

"Yeah, I kinda already knew that. What about him?"

"The two wizards were suggesting that we seek Celebrant's assistance."

Raxtus sighed. "Are you for real? What do you expect me to do?"

"Well, it's quite simple," said Grandpa. "We need you to pay Celebrant a visit."

Raxtus' eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "You want me to _what_?"

"Raxtus, it's clear that all of our combined forces are nowhere close to being capable of holding their own against Dominera and her pack in a fair fight. We _need_ help. And Celebrant and his followers at Wyrmroost may be the only ones whom we can remotely trust who actually have the strength to do so."

"Stan, don't you get it? My father and I haven't exactly gotten along lately."

Raxtus proceeded to bend his head downward.

"Raxtus and Celebrant haven't been on very good terms over the past months," said Geminus.

"Why not?" asked Kendra. "You've never told us about this before."

"Ever since we moved here to Fablehaven. Celebrant has resented us for it. He feels that as dragons, we should be living in a dragon sanctuary like Wyrmroost. Not a on a preserve like Fablehaven. Which, as Celebrant puts it, is strictly for _inferior_ creatures."

"It doesn't help when your father is seen as the King of Dragons, and you've chosen to disregard his wishes," said Raxtus. "I tried reasoning with him. I told him that I didn't feel that a fairy dragon hatchling like Vanessa would thrive very well among the more typical dragons residing at Wyrmroost. Being a fairy dragon in the first place was hard enough for my father to accept. But mating with another fairy dragon, let alone one who started off as fairy, only strained our relationship further. Moving away from Wyrmroost altogether only worsened things."

"And then when Celebrant found out that Raxtus had accepted us into his family, that was the last we've heard from him," said Skyfrost.

"He doesn't like the fact that Raxtus has been harboring two non-fairy wyverns here at Fablehaven," said Firesquall. "He feels that our well-being is in jeopardy, because we're being nurtured exclusively by fairy dragons."

"Now do you people see why I can't just go up to my father and ask him for assistance?" asked Raxtus. "He feels that by starting a family at Wyrmroost, that I've crossed a line."

"Raxtus, I understand that this can't be easy for you," said Grandpa. "But you and your father are family. If Celebrant won't do this for you, try to appeal to his sense of decency. This is about rescuing a prestigious magical creature. An innocent milch cow."

"Stan raises a good point," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Celebrant is a refined dragon. Do you really think he''ll be very pleased that a horde of rogue dragons are roaming around without any form of regulation?"

"If Dominera was interested in a milch cow, who's to say that she'll stop there?" asked Dale. "Maybe stealing Viola was only the first step of a greater goal in mind. One that may involve her overthrowing a place such as Wyrmroost. If she really does consider herself to be an all-powerful dragon, she may have a bone to pick with the King of Dragons."

"You're suggesting that Dominera could use Viola's milk to increase her power somehow?" asked Seth.

"I'm not sure," said Dale. "Raxtus, Geminus and Vanessa drink Viola's milk. But Skyfrost and Firesquall, they could care less for it."

"They're not mammals, nor do they possess any attributes of light creatures," said Warren. "So how would a dragon like Dominera actually benefit from Viola's milk?"

"It's hard to say," said Grandma. "We don't fully understand the capabilities of Dominera, or the rest of her pack. If not Dominera, perhaps one of her subordinates can utilize magical milk in some way."

"Whatever the reason, we need to get Viola back and out of Dominera's clutches," said Grandpa. "And at the moment, the chance of any of you rescuing Viola is looking less and less likely."

"Maybe we need to go all out," said Seth. "We've still got Bracken on our side!"

"Seth, I can't deal with all those dragons!" blurted Bracken. "Are you out of your mind?"

"What I'm saying, is that Kendra may no longer have any authority over fairies. But you still do. You can still go back to the Fairy Kingdom, assemble all of your strongest fairies and lead a charge against Dominera."

"Seth, I don't think we'd be capable of accomplishing such a feat. These are not demons we are dealing with. They are not weakened by light energy. These are powerful dragons. A lot more powerful than fairy angels such as myself. We'd be greatly outmatched if we took all those dragons head on."

"This is why I proposed that Raxtus should seek out Celebrant and request his aid," said Grandpa. "Celebrant is the only figure I can think of who might actually stand a chance against Dominera."

Raxtus winced. "I don't know. What if Celebrant reprimands me even further? Or he penalizes me somehow?"

"Raxtus, this is your father," said Ingrid. "This isn't Murdred who innately despises anyone and everyone. Explain to him that while you may not agree on certain things, that you should at least try to form a truce, and that Viola needs to be rescued from Dominera."

Raxtus sighed. "I understand. I'm not confident that I'll succeed in convincing him into siding with us. But I'll definitely try."


	17. Quandary

**Chapter 17: Quandary**

Raxtus," said Geminus, looking over at the platinum-scaled fairy dragon, "are you sure that you want to go through with this?"

"I'm not sure," replied Raxtus, shaking his head. "Deep down, part of me doesn't want to get involved with my father any further. But conversely, his aid may be the only hope we have of standing up to Dominera and rescuing Viola."

"Raxtus," said Kendra, placing a hand upon his arm, "if you really feel uncomfortable about this, you don't have to go through with it. Maybe we can find another solution."

"I think I'm just overreacting. Celebrant is my father. He accepted me in the past for who I am. Why shouldn't he also accept me for the choices that I've made? I need to be open with him. That's why I'm willing to head out to Wyrmroost and speak with him."

"When would you go?" asked Ingrid.

"Why not right now? We're not accomplishing anything by waiting around here, twiddling our fingers."

"Okay, then," said Seth. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Not quite," replied Raxtus. "First, I'm going to need the Translocator."

"Of course," said Grandma. "I'll go and get it. Be right back."

"Raxtus, you're really brave," said Ingrid. "Going back to confront your father. Just like this."

"We'll be rooting for you," said Seth. "Best of luck!"

"Rooting for me?" blurted Raxtus. "Not a chance! I want you guys to come with me on this!"

"Say _what_?" asked Warren.

"I need to be on the level with my father. I need for him to see that this doesn't affect just dragons, but humans and other creatures as well!"

"Raxtus, I don't like the sound of this," said Bracken. The adults all nodded in approval.

"I am going to pay my father a visit with no intention of starting a battle. I want him to see me for who I really am. And I want him to see my family and friends for whom they are as well."

Mrs. Sorenson squinted her face. "Raxtus, my kids have been in enough danger as it is. I don't know how much we should even trust Celebrant at this point. What if something goes wrong?"

"We'll have the Translocator on us," said Warren. "At the first sign of trouble, we can always bail."

"Besides, Celebrant and Dominera are two very different dragons," said Raxtus. "Even if I'm at odds with him, Celebrant is still my father. The two of us have a history together. A strained, limited history, mind you. But a history nonetheless. Dominera is a dragon we barely know. The only thing they have in common is that they are both highly-regarded dragons, in two separate groups nonetheless. The last thing we should be doing is treating the two of them as one and the same."

In the distance, Grandma could be seen exiting out of the back door of the house, and making her ways over towards the dragons' lair. In her hands, she was carrying the Translocator.

"Here you are," said Grandma, presenting the artifact to Raxtus.

"Thanks," said Raxtus. "And as we've discussed during your brief absence, the other members of my group will be joining me."

"Are you serious?" asked Grandma, as she looked up at Raxtus.

"We'll be fine. I'm going to transport all of us to the top of Moonfang, the Wyrmroost mountain that my father resides on. We'll skip most of the dangers of the dragon sanctuary by doing so."

Warren moaned. "Well, that's a relief."

"From that point, we'll be right at my father's roost. If everyone's ready, we can get going. Geminus, would you mind bringing Vanessa along?"

"You're bringing your daughter to this?" asked Grandma.

"Of course," replied Raxtus. "Celebrant is still her grandfather. And Vanessa can't change who she is. He needs to accept her for who she is.

Raxtus went ahead and wound up the Translocator, then held it out in front of himself.

"I guess if everybody's ready, we should go ahead," said Kendra.

Kendra placed a hand upon the Translocator, as did Seth, Ingrid, Warren and Bracken. Likewise, Geminus, Skyfrost and Firesquall placed a claw upon the artifact. Geminus then used her free claw to direct one of Vanessa's claws and set it upon the Translocator.

"Here goes," said Raxtus, as he twisted the Translocator again.

Kendra and Seth experienced the magic of the Translocator pulling their entire group straight through the fabric of space. As soon as the lair of the dragon family phased out of existence, a new, unfamiliar area appeared around the group.

Looking around, it became apparent that the group was now standing on a small plateau of some nature. Below them, in the distance, was a vast forest, interspersed with hills, small bodies of water and canyons. Further beyond stood several mountains. From what Kendra could surmise, they were currently several hundred feet above the ground. But one thing was for sure, they were back at Wyrmroost.

"Here we are," said Raxtus. "Welcome to Moonfang. Home of the King of Dragons, Celebrant. AKA my father."

"So, where is he?" asked Seth.

"Look behind you."

The group turned around, and saw that the plateau they were on actually sloped up for a considerably fair distance. Apparently, the plateau they were on was not the highest point of the mountain.

"This way," said Raxtus, as he began to walk up the slope.

As the group progressed up the slope, another cliff eventually came into view.

"Raxtus why didn't you just bring us straight to the top?" asked Ingrid.

"We can't just barge in on my father unannounced," said Raxtus. "Those wishing to speak to him need going through the proper channels in order to do so."

Once the group reached the top of the slope, they found themselves standing upon another plateau, where they could see a passageway leading into the cliff that lay ahead.

"He should be right through there," said Raxtus.

Suddenly, without any warning, two large, scaly, claws with a pearly sheen clung onto one side of the edge of the plateau.

"What's that?" asked Firesquall.

A dragon head, belonging to the pair of claws that had grabbed onto the ledge, stuck its head up from below. As had been the case with Dominera and her pack, the head of this dragon was equally as large.

"Halt!" hissed the dragon in a booming voice. "Who goes there? Who are you?"

"Dargof!" cried Raxtus. "It's me! Raxtus!"

Dargof let out a sigh. "Oh yes. I wasn't expecting to see you here. All these humans that are with you got me worked up. Hello, Geminus. Hello Vanessa. And the two wyverns... what are your names, again?"

"Skyfrost and Firesquall," said Geminus.

"Oh, right. And on what grounds are these humans doing with you?

"These are our allies from the Knights of the Dawn," said Raxtus. "We wish to see Celebrant."

"For what purpose?"

"We would like to ask him for his assistance."

Dargof glared directly at Raxtus. "I'd knew you'd come crawling back. But, you _are_ really puny. I'm just surprised you didn't return sooner."

"So, may we please visit him?"

Dargof sighed. "I suppose. None of you seem like you'd be much of a threat. And besides, Celebrant could certainly hold his own against all of you put together. Now go on."

Dargof then lowered himself below the surface of the plateau, then withdrew his claws.

"Wow, we did not leave much of an impression on that guy," said Warren.

"I'm just glad he let us through," said Kendra. "I could barely move simply being in his presence."

"Who exactly was that dragon, anyway?" asked Ingrid.

"That was Dargof," replied Raxtus. "He's the dragon who's closest to my father. He's not a beta dragon or anything. We don't have those. But he devotes his life to serving and assisting my father."

"So he's a suck-up?" asked Seth.

"Not really. My father does respect him for his services, but he receives no special treatment."

"That's too bad," said Warren. "Because if Celebrant isn't big on handing out special treatments, then this meeting isn't going to go over very well."

"I still don't feel very optimistic about all this," said Bracken. "But, maybe we will be proven wrong."

The group proceeded to enter the passageway that lay in the center of the cliff face. They continued through a small tunnel, only to emerge in a wide room. Aside from the narrow ledge by the entrance that the group was currently standing on, the rest of the room appeared to be much deeper. Looking up, it was possible to see the open sky, as there was no ceiling.

"You think this place used to be a volcano?" asked Kendra, who could hear rumbling coming from beneath the group.

"I'm pretty sure it's been dormant for years," said Raxtus, as the rumbling continued.

"Well somebody's about to blow his top!" exclaimed Warren.

At that very moment, a large dragon with glistening silver scales emerged from the depression in the center of the room. Towering over the rest of the group, Kendra and Seth were quick to recognize the dragon as none other than Celebrant.

"Hello, Raxtus," said Celebrant, his loud voice reverberating throughout the cave. "Geminus. Vanessa. Hello."

Raxtus stared up at Celebrant. Not much larger than a human himself, Raxtus was tiny in comparison to his own father.

"Hello, Father," said Raxtus, sounding rather hesitant as he spoke.

"I can't say I was expecting to see you anytime soon," said Celebrant. "On what grounds have you returned to me?"

"We need your help."

"With what?"

Raxtus went on to explain the situation regarding Dominera and Viola to Celebrant. The moment that Raxtus mentioned the name _Dominera_ , Celebrant's eyes lit up.

"Dominera," said Celebrant. "It's been a while since I have associated myself with her."

"You _know_ Dominera?" asked Geminus.

"Knew. I _knew_ Dominera. But this goes back a long time, when dragons still roamed the Earth freely. A time before humans devised these dragon sanctuaries with which to confine us to."

"What do you know about her?" asked Raxtus.

"She's quite powerful, to say the least. Much like I am revered as King of the Dragons, Dominera has been viewed as the queen."

"Dominera is Queen of the Dragons?" asked Geminus.

"Not officially or anything. I never associated myself with her, and I presume that likewise, she does not do the same for me."

"But, have you crossed paths with her?" asked Raxtus.

"Absolutely," replied Celebrant. "If memory serves me right, I even mated with her once."

"You mated with her? Who hatched from her egg?"

"How should I know? I mated with many dragonesses at the time. I think it was probably mating season, too. This was still at Wyrmroost, but before it was established as a sanctuary, meaning dragons were able to come and go as they pleased."

"You mean, Dominera might actually be my mother?" asked Raxtus.

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility. But there's no definite proof. You know how I told you about how your egg was one of four?"

"Yes. The cockatrice managed to eat the other three. Only I survived, because the fairies were able to rescue me in time."

"Indeed," said Celebrant, glaring down towards Bracken. "And they did manage to save you, I suppose. But I don't know if your mother is Dominera or not. Each of the four eggs came from different mothers. Meaning that had they survived, those dragons would've been your half siblings."

"Well, whether or not Dominera is my mother, we've still got the matter of a stolen milch cow to deal with," said Raxtus.

"I'm not interested in some cow," said Celebrant. "There is no need for me to get involved in this."

"But we need your help!"

"And why is that? Oh, I know. It's because all of you are too small and too weak to go about solving this problem yourselves. You need the help of a _real_ dragon. Of course! You deliberately relocate yourself away from Wyrmroost, so that you can live a life of false hope and desires. But when you run into a problem that you can't handle, you come running back to me!"

"Yeah, well this _problem_ happens to be another dragon," said Geminus. "A big dragon, just like you."

"Why are you being so _stubborn_?" asked Raxtus.

"It's not that I'm _incapable_ of helping you," said Celebrant. "It's just that if you are not willing to respect me and the other dragons here at Wyrmroost, then I have zero interest in you and your allies at Fablehaven."

"Okay, forget about humans and fairies for a moment," said Geminus. "An innocent milch cow has been abducted. Would you at least rescue her for her own sake? From one magical creature to another."

"This is a milch cow you're talking about," said Celebrant. "One that humans purposely cultivated and raised so that they could reap her milk. And the only reason humans actually want the milk is because they're unable to see magical creatures without it. And why is that? Because humans have to have everything! They're small, weak creatures who think that they have the authority to dominate the Earth because they have numbers and arguably more intellect than any other non-magical creature. You humans are weak and worthless to me."

"These humans are _not_ weak!" blurted Skyfrost.

"They're our friends!" said Firesquall.

"You two are fools," said Celebrant. "You should forget about Fablehaven and stay here. You'll grow up into big, powerful dragons if you do so. If you did that, you might actually be able to rescue your beloved milch cow."

"But that'd still take years!" said Skyfrost.

"This is exactly why you don't need humans in your lives, telling you what to do."

"But, we like these humans," said Firesquall. "You don't understand!"

"No, _you_ don't understand!" hissed Celebrant. "Human are weak. You don't need them!"

"But we do!" cried Skyfrost.

Celebrant narrowed his bow. "You want to see just how weak humans _really_ are?"

Celebrant proceeded to open his mouth, and a small fireball suddenly popped out of it. It floated in the air for a moment, before it shot down directly towards the group. Once it was only a few yards away from collision, Skyfrost intercepted it with a blast of his icy breath, while Warren did the same with water from the Sapphazure.

Celebrant chuckled. As he did so, the fireball began to grow larger. Soon it was larger than the combined streams of ice and water, and continued to grow larger.

"No!" cried Raxtus, as the enlarged fireball began to inch its way closer to the group. Suddenly, a translucent pink force field appeared between the group and the fireball. No longer able to reach the fireball, Skyfrost and Warren ceased their attacks.

The fireball rapidly expanded in size, until it had completely surrounded the entire force field. Though it was unable to penetrate the barrier, the heat from the fire still seeped through, turning the protective area into an oven.

"It's too hot in here!" cried Kendra.

"What's the matter?" boomed Celebrant from behind the flames. "Puny humans can't take the heat?"

Overwhelmed by the intense heat, Seth began to hyperventilate. He was now feeling furious towards Celebrant.

"We have to get out of here, before we get roasted!" exclaimed Ingrid.

"Ow!" snapped Warren, as the Translocator fell from his hands to the ground. "This thing's too hot to handle! Soaking it won't help, and I don't think freezing it will either!"

"My hold on the force field is getting weaker!" gasped Geminus, as Celebrant continued to laugh. "Celebrant must be doing something to it!"

"I've... had... _**enough**_!" snarled Seth, as his angel wings burst out of his back.

Glaring at the flames, Seth felt as energy pulsed through his wings. Suddenly, the flames vanished.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Celebrant, who looked to be rather confused. "I suppose it doesn't matter. There's more where that came from."

"Oh no you don't!" snapped Seth, as more energy surged through his wings. Celebrant then fell over onto his backside, causing the entire room to vibrate as he collided with the rock.

"Seth, what did you do?" asked Ingrid.

"I just showed Celebrant what a so-called _weak_ human can do. But, let's get out of here anyway!"

Celebrant let out a loud grown, then began to rise up from his fallen position.

"I know it's still hot, but touch it anyway!" said Firesquall, holding the Translocator in his claws. "Come on!"

As everyone placed a hand or claw upon the Translocator, Kendra and Seth were able to feel just how hot the metal artifact had gotten. It was still fairly hot, but not scalding. Kendra immediately had a flashback to several years ago, when she had accidentally touched a baking tray with her bare fingers just after it had been taken out of the oven at home.

"Come on, Firesquall!" squealed Ingrid. "If the heat doesn't get us, Celebrant will!"

"I got it!" said Firesquall, as he twisted the Translocator.

In an instant, the group found themselves no longer within Celebrant's domain. Instead, they were now standing back in the yard at Fablehaven.

"Yow, that's hot!" blurted Seth, as he and the others all immediately pulled their hands away from the Translocator.

Compared to where they had just been, Fablehaven felt significantly cooler. It was now that Kendra and Seth noticed just how much they, Ingrid, Warren and Bracken were all sweating.

"Anyone need a cool-down?" asked Warren, as he held up the Sapphazure, only to suddenly drop it. "On second thought, let's just get some ice from the freezer. This thing's still hot."

"Allow me," said Bracken, as he snapped his fingers. As soon as he did so, the pain that Kendra and Seth were experiencing instantly vanished.

"Well, at least we're safe," said Ingrid.

Raxtus sighed. "This was a waste of time. I was afraid that something like this would happen. And I feel worse than ever now."

"Raxtus," said Kendra. "I'm sorry. We all are."

"It's a good thing Seth was able to become an angel, and managed to stand up to Celebrant," said Ingrid.

"Even if it was only temporary," said Seth, as his wings unconsciously retracted into his backside. "But if Celebrant won't help us, who will?"

Bracken shook his head. "I don't know."


	18. Highway Robbery

**Chapter 18: Highway Robbery**

Raxtus turned his back away from the group, facing towards the direction of his lair. He took in a deep breath, then exhaled.

"Raxtus..." began Kendra.

"If this is about what went on with my father, you can just forget it!" snapped Raxtus.

"He tried to... kill us," said Ingrid.

"Yeah, I noticed."

"I can't believe your own father would stoop to do something like that," said Firesquall.

"Kinda makes me relieved to be adopted," said Skyfrost. "Uh, sorry Vanessa."

The young hatchling looked up at Skyfrost and Firesquall. She appeared to be oblivious to what her two brothers had been talking about.

"Celebrant was still being unreasonable," said Geminus. "Raxtus, it really wasn't a good idea to bring the others along. I half-expected that something like this was going to happen."

"What exactly was Celebrant's problem with us, anyway?" asked Seth. "We never did anything to _him_."

"It's because you folks are humans," said Raxtus.

"Nobody's perfect," said Warren.

"My father would beg to differ," said Raxtus, letting out a sigh. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need some time to myself."

Raxtus proceeded to fly off, heading towards the direction of his lair.

"We'd better go with him," said Geminus, looking at Skyfrost and Firesquall. "We are still his family, after all."

"Yeah," said Firesquall. "The good side of the family."

Geminus picked up Vanessa and cradled her in her arms, then took off after Raxtus. Skyfrost and Firesquall followed directly behind her.

"Well, this whole trip was a bust," said Seth.

"Raxtus had good intentions," said Bracken. "And he was only complying with the advice that Stan gave to him. We need to be more supportive towards Raxtus for the next little while. None of what happened can be seen as his fault."

Warren sighed. "Understood. I just wish this wasn't such a difficult situation. Come on, let's go back inside so we can explain everything to the others. As disappointing as it sounds."

The group proceeded to enter the house, where they were quickly greeted by the other members of the family.

"So, how'd it go?" asked Grandpa.

"Not too well," replied Kendra, as everybody made their way into the living room and took a seat.

The group went ahead and relayed their experience with Celebrant to the others.

"I'm really sorry that this whole thing didn't work out," said Grandpa.

"And that we also nearly got killed, right?" asked Warren.

"On top of that, Raxtus seems to really be on edge," said Bracken. "This whole possible revelation regarding his mother has him feeling overwhelmed. Not that I can blame him."

"What can we do to help him?" asked Ingrid.

"There's nothing that can be done to resolve the issue," said Grandma. "At least not by anyone in this room. Still, regardless of who Raxtus' mother happens to be, we all need to show Raxtus that he still has family and friends who who truly care for him. Now more than ever."

"And not only that," said Seth, "but Celebrant isn't set on helping us any time soon. So we can take Agad's advice and toss that out the window."

"What are we going to do?" asked Kendra. "If Celebrant won't help us, who _will_?"

"I don't feel that calling in more fairy angels to handle this would be sufficient enough," said Bracken. "Those dragons are extremely strong and powerful. We've got Mariana, but even if we enlarged her back to her proper size, she'd be outmatched. Not to mention outclassed when she's out of the water."

"Recruiting more knights wouldn't help much, either," said Warren. "I can't think of anyone else in the entire organization who would bring anything exceptional to the table."

"I'll try talking to Agad again," said Grandpa. "Maybe I can persuade him and some of the other surviving wizards to help us confront Dominera's bunch head-on."

"Maybe there's still a way to retrieve that Omega Star somehow," said Kendra. "All of this trouble started when I wished away my own power. Maybe it'll take the magic of another wish in order to remedy everything."

"Your wish didn't cause these dragons to appear," said Bracken. "It was just bad timing. And besides, we've looked high and low for a means to locate the Omega Star ever since it was lost, and we still have zero leads."

"Maybe we should consider asking the Singing Sisters for help again," said Seth. "As risky as it sounds."

"I'd rather if it didn't come down to that," said Grandpa. "But I would't cross that suggestion off the list just yet."

At that moment, the telephone suddenly began to ring. Everyone's attention was drawn over to the nearest phone, which sat on an end table next to where Grandpa was seated. Grandpa proceeded to grab the receiver and held it up to his face.

"Stan Sorenson speaking," said Grandpa. "Oh, hey Trask. Were you able to find any information about Dominera? Oh no? Wait, what? Hold on."

Grandpa held a hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. "Seth, we need to use your TV. There's something we need to be watching right now. Trask, I'll call you back in a moment."

Grandpa placed the wired receiver back into its cradle and stood up, then proceeded to make his way out of the living room.

"Dad, what is it?" asked Mr. Sorenson, as everyone followed Grandpa out of the room.

"Trask said that an unusual heist just occurred in Colorado," replied Grandpa, as he began to head up the stairs leading to the second floor. "And it's not very far from where Dominera's lair is."

Kendra felt her heart beginning to sink in her stomach upon hearing what Grandpa had to say.

"I don't see why we can't just have a TV on the first floor like normal people," said Seth, once everyone had reached the second floor. "Coming up here and invading my bedroom is kinda getting on my nerves."

"I may just consider one if we live through this whole ordeal," said Grandpa, as he lead the way to Seth's room. "But it wouldn't be for recreational purposes. So there'd be no TV shows, movies or video games on it."

"Spoilsport," said Warren under his breath, with everyone now gathered together in Seth's bedroom.

Grandpa picked up the TV remote that was sitting on Seth's night stand and turned on the TV. He immediately changed the channel from a rerun of _Seinfeld_ to a male news-anchor seated at a desk. The headline "DRIVER CLAIMS TRUCK FLEW AWAY" could be read across the bottom of the screen.

"Of course it's hard to say whether the driver is being truthful or not," said the news-anchor. "He was found lying on the road in critical condition. We now go live to the scene with our correspondent, Debbie Castillo. What's the latest, Debbie?"

The scene on the screen switched to a woman wearing lots of makeup, who was standing on a highway in the countryside, holding a microphone up to her face.

"Thank you, Colin," said Debbie. "I'm here with the man who found the driver less than an hour ago. Sir, would you mind telling us what you discovered?"

The camera panned over to reveal a young man with a thick, brown beard, standing next to Debbie.

"Yeah, sure," said the man, while Debbie proceeded to hold the microphone up to his face. "I was going along the highway in my car, when I see this man just lying in the middle of the road. The highway wasn't super busy, so I must've been the first to have seen him. I pulled over and I could see that he was bleeding quite heavily. Right away, I called 911."

"Were you able to figure out why he was injured?" asked Debbie.

"The man was still conscious. He told me that he was just driving down the highway in his truck, when it inexplicably began to rise up in the air, trailer first. He said that he unbuckled his seatbelt, opened his door and jumped out. He fell nearly twenty feet before hitting the road, and claimed that the truck continued to just fly off on its own."

"Will the man be okay?"

"I hope so. Paramedics got here fairly quickly. They believe that he broke several bones, but he's been taken to the hospital for further treatment."

"People are finding this hard to believe, though," said Debbie, "that a truck could just fly off into the air. Without any proof, most people are simply going to think that the problem lied entirely with the driver. It's likely that he may have been delusional, although we're awaiting test results to see if he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs."

"That's kind of the impression I got. Personally, I think some punks got him to pull over, beat him up and hijacked his truck. But he kept insisting that the truck just flew off, and that no other parties were involved. He said that some birds were flying directly above the truck. But there's doesn't explain anything."

"Flock of birds?" asked Mr. Sorenson, sounding rather concerned.

"The police are looking into this, though," said Debbie. "Whatever actually happened to it, the truck that the man was driving is apparently missing. Do you know what kind of truck it was?"

"He said it was a tanker truck. If you ask me, a truck like that would never fly away, unless it was full of helium, maybe. But, the man kept assuring me that it was a milk truck."

Everybody who was watching at Fablehaven could not believe their ears when the man uttered the words _milk truck_.

"No..." said Ingrid. "Is this for real?"

"I'm afraid so," said Warren, who was looking at his tablet. "Trask was right. The news website shows that the location of the crash really is close to where Dominera's lair is. This can't be a coincidence."

"What does Dominera even want with a milk truck?" asked Kendra.

"To store milk, smarty pants," said Seth.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. And why is that?"

"You mean, what would Dominera want with milk? Isn't that what we haven't been able to figure out this entire time?"

"Without asking her directly, all we've been able to do on the matter has been speculating," replied Grandpa. "With the exception of humans, there aren't that many creatures that drink the milk of another species."

"The fairies drink milk," said Ingrid.

"Yes," said Bracken. "But fairies _are_ still humanoid. And as my sisters and I were birthed from our mother like regular humans, we too were breast-fed milk as babies. So drinking milk is not unusual for our kind. Especially magical milk."

"Either way, dragons don't care about milk, magical or not," said Dale. "Fairy dragons not withstanding."

"Maybe Dominera and the other dragons don't even want any milk for themselves," said Kendra. "Maybe they took Viola so that they could have milk to give to somebody else."

"Like who?" asked Grandma.

"Other humans?" replied Ingrid, who sounded uncertain about her response.

"Maybe," answered Kendra.

"That doesn't entirely make sense," replied Seth. "If there's _other_ humans out there, and Dominera wants them to be able to see magical creatures, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? I mean, if a human can see Dominera, they would already have access to milk, would they not?"

"Humans can still interact with dragons," said Warren. " _If_ the dragon in question has assumed its human form. Like Gavin, for instance."

"You think maybe she's trying to deceive other people?" asked Ingrid.

"Anything is possible," replied Kendra. "The question here is, who could these other people even be?"

"Beats me," said Grandpa. "This whole situation has been fairly baffling to all of us."

"What about the truck?" asked Seth.

"We can't exactly tell the police about what we _really_ know. What's happened seems to already be out of our hands. Healing the man with the Sands of Sanctity is out of the question. There would be chaos at the hospital. And as for the truck, if the police are unable to locate it, and they probably won't, hopefully the driver's insurance will cover it."

"If you claim that your vehicle just flew away, would that even count as grand theft auto?" asked Kendra.

"We just experienced grand theft bovine, so I'd vouch for it," said Warren.

"So what would Dominera want with a milk truck?" asked Ingrid.

"To hold milk, I'm guessing," replied Dale. "But a truck seems excessive. Viola doesn't produce much more than one-hundred gallons of milk in a day. And those tanker trucks can hold thousands of gallons. We only keep a fraction of the milk she produces for our own consumption here at Fablehaven. The rest is usually shipped out to our associates and close friends."

"So using a whole tanker truck to store milk seems kind of excessive, doesn't it?" asked Kendra.

"For us, it does," answered Mr. Sorenson. "But for large dragons, a truck to them would be like what a milk can is to us. And unlike a stationary milk tank at a dairy, the truck itself is portable and self-refrigerated. Until it runs out of power, at least."

"I know it's obvious that Dominera took the truck," said Kendra. "Everything adds up perfectly. But, how can we be certain about it?"

"We can't go back into the lair," said Bracken. "Woxull will just catch us again."

"I can search for it," said Seth. "Let me use the Oculus. That way we can be absolutely certain."

"How're you going to find the truck, though?" asked Ingrid. "Even if we knew the model and everything, which we don't, there's gotta be tons of them out there on the roads. How're you gonna locate the one that was stolen?"

"If the truck is anywhere, it's with Viola," said Seth. "I'll search for Viola, and from there, I'll see if there's a truck lying around nearby."

"Good thinking," said Grandma. "I'll get the Oculus. Instead of crowding around in Seth's room, why don't we all go back downstairs?"

The family made their way out of Seth's room and made their way downstairs to the living, except for Grandma. Once the rest of the family was seated, Grandma came downstairs and walked into the living room with the Oculus in her hands.

"Here you go," said Grandma, as she placed the spherical artifact down into the palm of Seth's outstretched hand.

"This shouldn't take too long," said Seth, as he cupped both of his hands around the Oculus. "They wouldn't keep the truck very far from Viola, I imagine. If I can't find the truck, or any clues, I'll stop."

Seth closed his eyes and began to focus his mind on Viola. Within seconds, the unusually large bovine appeared before Seth's eyes. Viola was still standing in the vast cavern situated within Dominera's lair, same as where she had been the previous time that Seth had looked for her using the Oculus.

Looking at Viola's head, Seth saw that it was drooping down, instead of being in its usual upright position.

"I see Viola," said Seth. "She looks... sad."

Kendra felt taken aback. She had never seen Viola looking sad before. Of course, Kendra couldn't recall the last time anybody had ever been cruel to her.

"She's sad?" asked Dale. "Not that I'd blame her. She must be terrified. But I can't imagine what she'd even look like when she's sad. She's always so peaceful and content."

"At least she's still alive," said Warren. "What else is there?"

"I'm looking," said Seth, as he turned his view away from Viola and towards another part of the cavern.

As Seth surveyed the cavern, something large and shiny immediately caught his eye. It was a tanker truck, the trailer of which sported a chrome finish. The truck was sitting on the floor of the cavern, across from where Viola was standing.

"I see it!" said Seth, as he examined the truck more thoroughly. The trailer was long, and seemed to be about twice the length of the cab. On both sides of the truck, the word "MILK" had been printed in large, blue letters, accompanied by an outline of a cow's head.

"Anything else?" asked Grandpa.

"Not really," said Seth, as he continued to look around the cavern. There were puddles of milk lying around on the floor, but other than those, nothing else stood out as anything out of the ordinary.

"So, what do we do about this truck?" asked Kendra, as Seth opened his eyes and regained his normal perspective.

"Well, we can't tell the police," said Grandma. "Even if the dragons _weren't_ a problem. Why would people living in Connecticut be telling the Colorado State Police that a missing milk truck was stashed inside a mountain?"

"We still aren't sure what Dominera wants with this truck," said Ingrid.

"Maybe she did it to prove a point," said Kendra. "She knows that we want Viola back. So, maybe she stole the truck as a way to rub it in our faces. To show that she means business."

"If her problem's with us, why get other innocent humans involved?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"Dominera is a tyrant," said Bracken. "She doesn't care about the human race or what happens to it. She doesn't see all of you as unique individuals."

"This is getting to be too much," said Mr. Sorenson. "Viola needs to be back here, where she belongs."

"We've tried," said Kendra. "God! I've been missing my powers more than ever lately! I feel totally worthless without them! And before anyone tries to comfort me, I'm gonna say that if I _did_ have my powers, I could have stood up to those dragons. Now I can't even use the Oculus."

"You've relied too much on your powers," said Ingrid. "Maybe you should just try being yourself. That's what I like best about you, anyway."

"Thanks, Ingrid. But being myself isn't going to make any of these problems go away."

"Well, we're not going to give up," said Grandpa. "We'll keep looking for another solution. But in the meantime, as long as Viola is gone we're going to have to make a few adjustments around here."


	19. Tension

**Chapter 19: Tension**

Kendra gazed through the glass panels of the attic window and out at the flowers, shrubs and trees that surrounded one end of of the yard. Although it was a sight that she had seen almost every day for nearly a year and a half, the fact that it was raining outside brought an entirely different perspective to the vantage point.

Although it was hard to see the raindrops as they flew down from the sky and towards the ground, Kendra was able to make out the few droplets of water that had hit the outer side of the window, and watched as they streaked their way down the glass. At fist glance, it didn't seem like there was much rain at all. But that thought ended once Kendra discovered a puddle off to one side, which was continuously being rippled by a constant barrage of raindrops that were rapidly splashing into it.

Several hours had passed since the family found out about the incident with the milk truck. Everybody was anxious to take action and actually do something in regard to getting it back. However, while the idea of simply storming Dominera's lair and rescuing Viola with the Translocator sounded good on paper, in actuality, it proved to be a far more dangerous endeavor, if their previous attempt was anything to go by.

The house had been fairly quiet throughout the day. Dale had proposed that they should start working on rebuilding Viola's barn. However, the unanticipated rainfall meant that the project had to be postponed, given that Hugo did not work fairly well in the rain.

Other members of the family had been keeping to themselves for most of the day. They were trying to come up with ideas that could be utilized to try and safely get Viola away from Dominera's clutches. Whether there had been any breakthroughs or not seemed unclear, as there had been little communication among the family throughout the day.

Even lunch seemed to taste fairly bleak. Kendra didn't know if it had been herself, or if the soup and sandwich that she had been served was losing its flavor. Unable to properly focus on any one thing, Kendra felt as though the entire day had been wasting itself away.

"Rainy days _suck_ ," said Ingrid, as she stepped up next to Kendra and looked out the window alongside her.

"Normally, I don't mind them," said Kendra. "But usually I'm able to find something else to do in my free time. With all this commotion that's been going on, I can't seem to focus on anything."

"Tell me about it," said Ingrid. "I've tried reading, watching TV, video games. Nothing's doing it for me."

Kendra then felt a mild pang from within her stomach. "I _am_ getting a little hungry," she said.

"We didn't eat very much today. And lunch wasn't all that big. You want to get a snack?"

"Sure. At least it'll waste a few minutes of our time."

Kendra walked over to the door of the attic and proceeded to make her way down the stairs to the second floor, with Ingrid following close behind her.

"What should we have?" asked Ingrid, as they continued down the hallway.

"Beats me," said Kendra. "I don't want to have anything heavy, since we don't even know what's for dinner-"

"What are you two doing?" asked Seth, who was standing off to one side within the now open doorway of his bedroom.

"We're just getting a snack," said Kendra.

"I want to come," said Seth. "I'm really bored. And kinda hungry."

"Feel free to join us," said Ingrid.

"You have any idea what dinner is?" asked Kendra, as she began to walk down the stairway towards the first floor along with Seth and Ingrid.

"I haven't heard a peep out of anyone since lunch," said Seth.

"It's after four already," said Ingrid, who was looking towards the grandfather clock that sat across from the stairs in the foyer.

The kids then walked through the foyer and entered the kitchen. The room was empty, and there were no signs that any sort of food preparation or cooking had been going on. The counters and stovetop were bare.

"They haven't even started," said Seth.

"Maybe they're just going to make something simple," said Kendra.

"It's possible," said Ingrid.

"We could just ask them," said Seth, as he removed a handful of chocolate chip cookies from a porcelain jar that was sitting on a counter.

"Whoa, take it easy, Cookie Monster!" said Kendra, who saw that Seth was holding four cookies in one hand.

"Here, take one," said Seth, handing one of the cookies to Kendra, while he took a bite out of another cookie in his other hand.

"Those are Grandma's homemade cookies! She uses walrus butter to make them! We have to be conservative about what we eat around here."

Seth sighed. "You're right," he said. He handed another cookie to Ingrid, then put the last one back in the jar.

"Well, I hope dinner is ready soon," said Ingrid. "Whatever we're having."

"Maybe they'll get takeout," said Seth, as his eyes lit up.

"Why don't we just ask them?" said Kendra. I know the other adults are busy, but this'll only take a second. And it's a fair question."

Kendra walked out of the kitchen and down the hall towards Grandpa's study, while Seth and Ingrid followed her. She stopped in front of the door and knocked.

"Come in," came Grandpa's voice from behind the door.

The kids entered Grandpa's study, where Grandpa was sitting at his desk, poring over several sheets of paper that had been strewn across his desk. He sat up as the kids approached him.

"How are you children faring?" asked Grandpa.

"We're getting by," said Ingrid.

"Do you know what's going on with dinner?" asked Seth.

"Are they not back yet?" asked Grandpa, as he winced.

"Who's not back yet?" asked Kendra.

"Your grandmother and Dale. They went to town to do some errands. With Viola gone, we're going to have to rely more on normal dairy products. At least until we can get some more magical milk shipped here from other preserves."

"You know when they're supposed to be back here?" asked Ingrid.

"They didn't say when they'd be back," replied Grandpa, as he glanced at the wooden clock that sat on a corner of his desk. "But they left about three hours ago."

"Three hours?" asked Kendra. "That's not right."

"They just went into town to pick up a few things?" asked Seth.

"Yeah," said Grandpa.

"And when you say town, you mean Crossroad Pass, right?" asked Kendra.

"I assume that's where they went. And that's only about a twenty-five minute drive from here."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," said Ingrid.

Kendra and Seth both began to feel tense. They were both growing suspicious that something had happened to Grandma and Dale. And that _something_ was no accident. It felt safe to assume that Dominera had a part in their inexplicable absence.

"Look, we can't just jump to conclusions," said Grandpa. "It's obvious something happened. But it doesn't necessarily mean that it was something _bad_."

"They would've called if something came up," said Seth.

"So why don't we just call them?" asked Kendra.

"Yes," said Grandpa. "Let's do that." He then picked up the headset of the phone that was sitting on his desk. Grandpa held the headset up to his face and proceeded to press one of the speed dial buttons.

Even though Grandpa had the headset up against his ear, Kendra and Seth were still able to hear the the phone ringing on the other line. After several rings, they could hear Grandma saying something through the phone.

Grandpa groaned, then pressed the switchhook on the base of the phone where the headset normally sat. "She didn't answer. It just went to her voicemail."

"Oh no," said Kendra, shaking her head. "I don't like this."

"I'll try Dale as well," said Grandpa, as he proceeded to press another speed dial button. "Maybe he'll pick up."

Grandpa went through the same experience that he did only a moment ago, and hung up the phone after a few seconds.

"Dale too?" asked Ingrid.

Grandpa sighed. "Either they both forgot to charge their phones last night, or something very bad has happened to them."

"What should we do?" asked Seth.

"We'll need to tell the others about this. As for you Seth, we're going to need you to search for your grandmother and Dale using the Oculus. I'll go get it from upstairs. You kids find your parents, Warren and Bracken and have everyone meet up in the living room."

The kids went around the house, checking in various rooms, and managed to find both of their parents, along with Warren and Bracken. Within three minutes, everybody had gathered together in the living room and were now all sitting down.

"You're saying that my mother-in-law and Dale aren't answering their phones?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"Regrettably," said Grandpa, as he set the Oculus down on the coffee table.

"I knew it," said Mr. Sorenson. "I bet those dragons were outside Fablehaven, just waiting for them. They probably ambushed them the moment they drove out through the gate. I knew it would be dangerous if anyone left this place. They should have used the Translocator."

"We keep the Translocator at Fablehaven when we're not on assignment," said Warren. "It's in case of an emergency."

"Emergency?" asked Mr. Sorenson, his voice raising as he spoke. "You want an _emergency_? Here's your _emergency_! My mother and your brother are both missing!

"Scott, calm down," said Grandpa. "We're all worried. But Seth here is going to use the Oculus and locate them right away."

"Why should he waste any time doing that?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "We all know that Grandma and Dale would've been taken back to Dominera's lair by now."

"That's even if they're still alive," said Mr. Sorenson.

"I don't think they'd kill them," said Warren. "Those dragons would've figured that Dale and Ruth are more valuable to us alive than dead."

Mr. Sorenson held up his hands to his face. "Just look for them already, Seth. At least we'll be certain if they're even alive or not."

"Okay," said Seth, as he reached a trembling hand forward towards the Oculus and picked it up. The thought had terrified him. What if Grandma and Dale really had been killed? Neither of them had answered their phones. Unless the storm outside was interfering with the phone network, which seemed doubtful, given that the rain wasn't very heavy, nor had there been much thunder.

Seth clasped the Oculus within his hands and closed his eyes. He began to think of Grandma Sorenson. Being someone he saw on a regular basis, Seth figured that locating her would be very simple.

Within a moment, Grandma suddenly appeared before Seth's eyes. She appeared to be sitting down on a bench, along with Dale. Both of them appeared to be looking down at the floor.

"I found them!" exclaimed Seth. "They're alive!"

"Where are they?" asked Mr. Sorenson. "Dominera's lair?"

"I don't know," replied Seth, as he looked around the small room that Grandma and Dale were in. "They're not in a cave. They look to be in a small, man-made room. The walls are painted and there's floor tiles."

"Describe this room to us," said Grandpa.

"Sure," said Seth, as he looked around the room. "The wall opposite from where they're sitting is like one huge window. Most of the door also appears to be a window as well. And there's a toilet and a sink in one corner."

"This sounds like a holding cell," said Warren. "Like at a police station."

"Let me check something," said Seth, as he shifted his view through the glass and into a hallway. Looking back at the room that Grandma and Dale were in, Seth noticed that the number 1 had been painted above the door. Seth then looked down the hallway and saw there there were several more similar looking rooms, all of which were also numbered.

"I think you're right, Warren," said Seth.

"Try and retract your view from this place," said Grandpa. "Just so we can be sure of where exactly it is."

"Okay," said Seth. Looking down at the floor, Seth slowly retracted his viewpoint. He passed straight through the ceiling, and was now looking down at the floor one story above. Seth rose up through through the next ceiling and was now in a carpeted room two stories above the holding cell. Part of Seth wanted to explore his current surroundings, but his main objective was to simply figure out where exactly this place was.

Seth backed his viewpoint away through the ceiling of this upper story, and was now looking down at a rooftop. From what Seth could gather, he was looking down at a low-rise commercial building.

Moving his viewpoint away from a downward position, Seth looked around and saw that the entire building was surrounded by a lawn, except for the driveway and parking lot that was off to one side. In the parking lot sat several police cars. Looking down the street, Seth was able to make out more low-rise buildings.

Seth directed his viewpoint over towards the front side of the building and located the entrance. Printed in big, bold letters above the front door, Seth was able to read the words **"CONNECTICUT STATE POLICE"**.

"Yup," said Seth nonchalantly. "They're at a police station."

"Which police station?" asked Grandpa.

"I dunno. It doesn't say the district. But I'll figure out where it is."

Seth shifted his view back down towards the groumd, and proceeded to back away, up towards the sky. Once he was several hundred feet above the ground, something familiar caught Seth's eye. Among all the roads, buildings and properties that made up the small town, Seth noticed a schoolyard. Curious, Seth lowered his viewpoint down towards the school, until he was staring directly at the entrance.

Directly above the entrance to the school, Seth saw that the words **"CROSSROAD PASS JUNIOR HIGH"** , had been engraved in stone. It had been over a year since Seth had set foot in said structure, but he did still remember it in the back of his mind.

"It's Crossroad Pass!" exclaimed Seth. "I just found my old school!"

Seth let go of the Oculus, bringing his view back into the darkness of his closed eyelids. He then opened his eyes, and found himself back within the living room at Fablehaven.

"Good job, Seth," said Grandpa. "At least now we know where they are. The question now, though, is why are they even there?"

"Maybe they did something bad," said Ingrid. "By accident, I mean. They could've hit somebody with their car and killed them. Something like that could've had them arrested, even if they didn't have bad intentions."

"They would've called us if something like _that_ had happened," said Warren. "Even if they were super busy trying to keep things under control."

"Not only that," said Mrs. Sorenson, "but shouldn't they have had the chance to phone us once they got arrested, even if their cell phones got confiscated?"

"This whole situation has been very suspicious," said Grandpa. "The only good thing I can say about it is that Ruth and Dale are in a police station, and not Dominera's lair."

"So what are we waiting for?" asked Seth. "We know where they are. Let's just head down to the station and get things straightened out."

"But this whole situation seems kinda strange," said Kendra. "Almost like they shouldn't even be in jail."

"In that case, maybe we can sneak them out."

"Not so fast," said Grandpa, holding up his hand. "I want for your grandmother and Dale to be liberated just as much as everyone else. But if they've been arrested, then there would also be a police record of the arrest. And if the two of them are suddenly gone from their cell, they're going to be in a _lot_ of trouble."

"So, why were they arrested?" asked Kendra.

"We don't know," answered Mr. Sorenson. "Why don't we just call the station and ask them ourselves?"

"I would advise against that," said Grandpa. "If Ruth and Dale didn't contact anyone after getting arrested, we might draw suspicion from the police if we somehow knew that they got apprehended."

"What should we do?" asked Ingrid.

"I'll call Trask. As a private detective, he can search the police station's database and find out how and why Ruth and Dale got arrested. Once we know the truth, we can use that information and figure out a way to approach the police."

"Couldn't we just file a missing persons report?" asked Seth. "It'd be an easy way for us to approach the police. We can just pretend we didn't know that Grandma and Dale were ever arrested."

"It's still better if Trask looks into this on our behalf," said Grandpa. "The less suspicion we draw, the better. Especially since this whole thing seems rather shady."

"I want to say that Dominera had something to do with all of this," said Kendra. "But, I really don't see how."

"You think Dominera somehow got some police officers to drink Viola's mik?" asked Seth. "Like maybe slipping it into the coffee? And once the police drank it, she blackmailed them into arresting Grandma and Dale?"

"You can't just give random people magical milk and expect them to be able to see magical creatures all of a sudden," said Warren. "They need to believe first."

"Also, I can't understand why Dominera would go through all that trouble," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Wouldn't it be simpler for her and her pack to just kidnap Grandma and Dale themselves?"

"Maybe this whole thing is a distraction that Dominera has orchestrated," said Kendra. "We get in trouble with the police, while she goes off and does her own thing."

"Distraction or not, it worked," said Warren. "Ruth and Dale need our help. Stan, contact Trask already so he can find out just what exactly is going on here."


	20. Arrested Development

**Chapter 20: Arrested Development**

Several minutes had passed since Grandpa had left the living room and went into his office. The rest of the family remained seated, awaiting Grandpa's return with baited breath.

"How long are we supposed to sit here?" asked Seth, who could feel as his impatience continued to balloon itself within his body.

"There's nothing we can do," said Mrs. Sorenson. "These things take time."

"I know. But I really want to help Grandma and Dale as soon as possible."

"We all want them back just as much as you," said Ingrid. "But we need to find out _why_ they've been apprehended first before we do anything rash."

"Getting them out of confinement will be the easy part," said Warren. "Even so, if we rescue Dale and Ruth, they're still gonna be in trouble with the police."

"Can't we just pay their bail or something?" asked Kendra. "At least that would actually be legal."

"It could still arouse suspicion," said Mr. Sorenson. "The fact that neither Grandma and Dale nor the police haven't contacted us isn't normal. The less we have to interact with the police, the better."

"Your father has a point," said Mrs. Sorenson. "If Trask can find out what's going on for us, let him. Then, once we understand what exactly has happened, we can make our decision based on that."

Shortly thereafter, Grandpa entered the living room. Judging from the expression he was wearing on his face, he appeared to look confused.

"Grandpa," said Kendra, feeling uneasy about any potential news that her grandfather might relay to the family, "what is it?"

"There's good news," replied Grandpa. "And then there's bad news. And to get to the point, I'll start off with the bad news. Trask did a database search of the Connecticut State Police. As far as Trask can tell, there's zero record of either Grandma or Dale ever getting arrested."

Everybody froze.

"Maybe they haven't update their records yet?" asked Ingrid.

"That's wrong," said Warren. "The police are normally on top of stuff like that."

"Yes," said Mr. Sorenson. "And combined with the fact that we were never contacted about their arrest only amounts to another red flag here."

"So why did Grandma and Dale get arrested?" asked Seth.

"We don't know," answered Grandpa. "Because there's no record, Trask couldn't find out the reason for their arrest."

"So who's behind all this, then?" asked Bracken.

"I want to say Dominera. But this doesn't seem like something she'd get involved with."

"It's not impossible," said Warren. "She was able to take control of Skyfrost and Firesquall. Who's to say she can't take control of humans? Or at the very least, have blackmailed the police in some way."

"Like say, serving magical milk to the police?" asked Seth.

"I wouldn't rule it out. Although why Dominera would've had Dale and Ruth arrested and then be done with them is beyond me."

"I don't like where this theory is going," said Kendra.

"Wait," said Ingrid. "Grandpa, you said there was also good news."

Grandpa winced. "Well there is, but I'm not entirely happy about it. But the good news is that since there's no record of Grandma and Dale actually being arrested, if they were to be rescued, there might not be anything that the police can do about it."

"I get what you're saying," said Mrs. Sorenson. "But what if there really is still a record, and the police haven't gotten around to entering it into their database?"

"Trask assured me that the database is live. A parking ticket was issued only moments before I contacted him. If an infraction like that is getting registered in the database, but not the arrest of two people, something is definitely amiss here."

"So, we should just go and rescue them already?" asked Ingrid.

"I think you should," said Grandpa. "The question is, how?"

"A police station is a government building," said Warren. "We can't just barge in and force our way through. It's not the abode of a magical villain. We'd draw way too much unwanted attention if we did that."

"Bracken, could you just warp yourself into the cell somehow?" asked Kendra. "Then just warp yourself, Grandma and Dale out, possibly with the Translocator?"

"I'm not familiar with the layout of any police station," said Bracken. "I'd have to get down to the cell first. And I still run the risk of getting caught. It's best if I don't go alone. I'd like someone else I can piggyback off of."

"I want to go," said Kendra.

"Why you?" asked Seth. " _I'm_ the one who located Grandma and Dale. And _I'm_ the one who still has their powers."

"I want to do this," said Kendra. "I want to prove that I can still be of some use, powers or no powers."

"Yeah, Seth," said Ingrid. "Give Kendra a chance, why don't you?"

"So... how exactly are Kendra and Bracken supposed to get through the police station and down to the holding cell?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"I can wear the invisibility gloves," said Kendra.

"And I can hide myself," said Bracken.

"Someone might still hear Kendra creeping around," said Ingrid. "Especially if doors mysteriously start opening on their own."

"I can teleport us past the doors," said Bracken. "But I'd rather just use my power to unlock a door if nobody's around."

"I can create a harmless distraction," said Warren. "At least in the main lobby. That might give you a shot of getting past the front desk without anyone actually noticing you."

"Okay," said Kendra. "Anything else we should be ready for?"

"I can't think of anything," replied Grandpa. "Once the three of you are ready, you might as well get going. The sooner we can get Ruth and Dale out of jail, the better."

After slipping on their jackets, putting on their shoes and getting a few things together, Kendra, Warren and Bracken went upstairs and into Grandpa and Grandma's bedroom. Warren went ahead and removed the Translocator from the cabinet.

"You two ready?" asked Warren.

"I guess so," said Kendra, who could feel as her heart started to beat faster and faster.

"This shouldn't be all that threatening," said Bracken. "Nothing we can't handle. But I still feel nervous about it."

"I think we've got this under control," said Warren, as he twisted the Translocator in his hands, then offered it out to Kendra and Bracken.

"Then let's do this," said Kendra, as she placed a hand upon the Translocator, as did Bracken.

Warren then twisted the Translocator again, immediately pulling Kendra, Bracken and himself through the fabric of space.

Kendra opened her eyes, and saw that she, Warren and Bracken were now outside, standing in a narrow alleyway between two long, brick walls. From what Kendra could gather, both of the walls appeared to each be one side of two low-rise, commercial buildings.

"Is this the police station?" asked Bracken, looking back and forth down the alley.

"No," said Warren. "But this is Crossroad Pass."

"Are we near the station?" asked Kendra.

"It's a short walk from here," said Warren, as he began to walk towards one end of the alley. Kendra and Bracken followed.

"I get it," said Bracken, as the group emerged onto a sidewalk in the downtown part of Crossroad Pass.

Despite being considered the area's downtown, not a single building in the municipality seemed to be higher than three stories. There were some people walking back and forth on the sidewalks, cars were passing by on the road, and many other cars were parked by the curb. But the place was not overly busy or crowded the way most larger cities were.

"You know where the police station is from here?" asked Kendra, as they passed by a woman who was walking a Norwich Terrier.

"Yeah," replied Warren. "But I need to make a quick stop first."

"We don't have time for a quick stop," said Bracken.

"This is important," said Warren, as he pulled a key out from his pocket. From what Kendra could tell, it appeared to just be a normal, run-of-the-mill house key.

"What's that key for?" asked Kendra.

"It's a key to the garden shed at home. But I'm getting it copied at the hardware store first. I'm gonna bring it in to the police station and tell them that I found a missing key. I'll say I don't know what it's for, and that the owner might be looking for it. Nobody will ever claim the key, but it's not our problem."

"I got it," said Bracken. "This will be your distraction."

Soon Warren led Kendra and Bracken into a small hardware store, and walked past several shelves stocked full of tools, fasteners, light bulbs, fixtures, solvents and more,

Warren went to a counter at the far end of the store, and within a two minute wait, received a duplicate of the original shed key.

From there, the group walked out of the downtown core. After walking for several more blocks, a large building could be seen down the street. Several police cars were parked in the lot next to it. Once they had gotten closer to the entrance, Kendra was able to see the words " **CONNECTICUT STATE POLICE"** written above it.

"Okay, we're here," said Kendra, stopping at a point that was several yards away from the entrance.

Warren looked up and down the street. "There doesn't appear to be anyone close by. Hide yourselves. Now."

Warren pulled the Translocator out of his bag and handed it to Bracken, who magically caused it to vanish into thin air. Warren then presented both of the invisibility gloves to Kendra. Kendra slipped both gloves onto her hands and suddenly became invisible. Likewise, Bracken vanished before Kendra's eyes.

"Okay," said Warren. "You ready? Follow me into the police station, then continue on without me. When you're done, warp everyone to the front of your old high school. It's nearby, so I'll meet up with you there."

"Got it," said Kendra.

Warren continued towards the entrance, while Kendra followed close behind him. Warren then pressed the wheelchair button that was near the door, causing it to slowly open outward. As Warren stepped into the front hall of the station, Kendra used the opportunity of the open door to slip in behind Warren.

"I'm in," said Kendra in a soft whisper.

Saying nothing, Warren made a thumbs up without raising his arm. Kendra looked around and saw that the entrance hall of the police station had a large counter at the far end of the room where a police woman was sitting. The outer wall of the room was lined with empty chairs, a few potted plants and a bulletin board.

"Hello there," said the policewoman who was sitting at the counter. Although she was staring directly at Warren, Kendra was worried that the woman might actually be looking at her, given that she was directly behind her cousin.

"Oh, hi," said Warren, as he walked up towards the counter. "I found this key on a sidewalk earlier. I don't know what it's for, or who it could belong to."

"Oh, where did you find it?" asked the policewoman, as Warren presented the key to to her.

While Warren and the police officer spoke, Kendra walked towards a glass door that was at one end of the room next to the counter. There was also a door on the other side, but two policemen were standing near it, and were currently engaged in a conversation.

On the other side of the door that Kendra had walked up to, there appeared to be a long hallway.

"Bracken," said Kendra under her breath. "Get us through."

Before Kendra could tell what was happening, she found that she was now standing in the hallway on the other side of the closed door.

" _Okay,_ " said Bracken, who seemed to be speaking through telepathy. " _Where now?_ "

"I don't know," whispered Kendra. "I'll look for a way downstairs."

As Kendra walked down the hall, she made sure to step as quietly as possible, just to try to prevent anyone who might be behind a closed door from noticing her. She stopped in front of an elevator and thought about riding it downstairs for a moment, only to realize that it might still attract attention.

Kendra continued to the end of the hall, stopping in front of a door that had a small window on one side. Peeking through the window, Kendra noticed a stairwell. Kendra grasped her hand upon the handle of the door, but was unable to so much as budge it.

" _Kendra, what's wrong_?" asked Bracken.

"The door won't open!" muttered Kendra, still unable to twist the handle in any way whatsoever.

" _I'll unlock it_ ,"

Kendra waited a moment, then tried the door again. It still wouldn't open.

"Bracken, hurry up."

" _It should be unlocked_ ,"

"Well, it's not," said Kendra, still unable to do anything with the door.

" _Hold on a moment_ ," said Bracken.

"What's going on?" asked Kendra, who did not receive an immediate response. "Bracken?"

" _There was an enchantment on the door_ ," said Bracken. "It was not physically possible to open that door so long as it was in effect. But I managed to dispel it. There was also a distractor spell as well."

"This has Dominera written all over it," grumbled Kendra, as she successfully opened the door and walked out onto the landing in the stairwell on the other side. "What if I had taken the elevator?"

" _I could sense the spell lingering throughout other parts of the building,_ " said Bracken. " _I got rid of it all, either way._ "

"Dominera must not want the cops to realize that there's two unwanted civilians in the basement," said Kendra, as she made her way downstairs. She attempted to open the door at the bottom, but it was locked.

" _I got it,_ " said Bracken, as the lock suddenly clicked open. Kendra then pulled the door open, and found that she was now in another hallway. However, unlike the hallway that was upstairs, the walls in this one mostly consisted of windows.

Kendra looked into the nearest room, and saw it was empty, save for a bench, sink and toilet.

"This looks like the place Seth said he saw."

Kendra continued down the hallway, making sure to look into the the rooms on both of her sides as she passed them. However, as she passed each room, Kendra was finding that they were all empty.

Once Kendra had reached the end of the hall, where the final two rooms awaited her, Kendra looked to one side. Surely enough, Grandma in Dale could be seen in this final room, sitting on the bench.

"Bracken, there they are!" exclaimed Kendra, who figured that no police staff were actually down here at this point.

Grandma and Dale both looked up from their bench. The two of them appeared to be confused.

Kendra heard the lock to the cell click, no doubt due to Bracken, and she opened the door.

"Kendra?" gasped Dale, as he stood up in front of Grandma. "Is that you?"

"It's me," said Kendra, as she pulled off one of the gloves.

"Me too," said Bracken, as he appeared next to Kendra, who was flickering in and out of view until she removed the second glove.

"Oh, thank god," said Grandma, as she and Dale walked up to Kendra and Bracken.

"We owe you a great deal of thanks," said Dale, as he gave Kendra a hug.

"How did you two get down here?" asked Bracken.

"It's a long story," said Grandma. "But can we just get out of this place? This whole ordeal has been rather peculiar."

"Yes, of course," said Bracken. He held out his hand, and the Translocator magically appeared within it. He then presented it to Kendra. "Mind getting us out of here?"

"Yeah, before someone finds out what's going on," said Dale.

"No problem," said Kendra, as she accepted the Translocator from Bracken.

Kendra went ahead and twisted the Translocator, then held it out in front of herself, allowing Bracken, Grandma and Dale to touch it.

Kendra then closed her eyes and envisioned the front lawn of her old high school in her mind. She twisted the Translocator, and could feel her body being pulled through space. Kendra then opened her eyes and saw that she and the others were now in front of the school. They were standing on the lawn, only a few yards from the front entrance, where Warren was sitting on the steps. As school was over for the day, there did not appear to be anyone else in the immediate area who could've seen them appear.

"Yes!" exclaimed Warren, as he got up from the steps and walked over towards the group.

"What's going on?" asked Grandma. "What's Warren doing here?"

"I helped Kendra and Bracken get into the police station undetected," said Warren. "I was just waiting for them to finish. Are you two okay?"

"We are now," said Dale. "But we got arrested for literally no reason."

"Oh, I'm sure there's a reason," said Grandma.

"You know what I meant."

"Sounds like you two have had quite the experience," said Warren.

"I'm glad you were able to rescue us," said Dale. "But, aren't we going to be in even more trouble now that two of us are mysteriously missing from confinement? Forget about breaking out of jail. As far as the police are concerned, Ruth and I could have just vanished into thin air!"

"I don't think that's going to be a problem." said Kendra. "There was a distractor spell surrounding the basement you were in. Assuming it was her, Dominera didn't even want the police going downstairs and finding you."

"There was also no police report on your arrest," said Warren. "The police aren't going to know you're gone, if they never knew you were there in the first place."

"Kendra, we need to get back home right away," said Grandma. "I can see that there's a lot we need to discuss."


	21. Mysteries

**Chapter 21: Mysteries**

Kendra opened her eyes and saw that she was now standing back home in the living room at Fablehaven, holding forward one hand that was resting upon the Translocator. With her were Bracken, Warren, Grandma and Dale.

"That was pretty nerve wracking," said Dale, as he let go of the Translocator. "Being locked up like that, not knowing if we'd ever get released."

"Try being trapped in a sub-dimensional room, with your only exit to the rest of reality having been severed," said Warren. "Then we'll talk."

Seth, Ingrid, and the rest of the family walked into the living room. From the looks on their faces, Kendra could tell that they were all relieved to be seeing Grandma and Dale once again.

"Oh, thank goodness you two are all right," said Grandpa, as he walked towards Grandma and gave her a hug.

"Let's sit down," said Bracken. "I think the question everyone wants to know, is what happened to you two?"

"Well, it was very strange," said Grandma, as she sat down in an armchair. "Dale and I had left Fablehaven. We were out on the highway, driving towards Crossrorad Pass, when we got pulled over by a police car."

"I hadn't been speeding or anything," said Dale. "But I had to stop, it was the police."

"And this wasn't any ordinary cop," said Grandma. "It was the police captain and his partner."

The rest of the family made strange looks that they directed towards Grandma and Dale.

"The captain?" asked Grandpa.

"Yeah," said Dale. "He's in charge of the whole police district in and around Crossroad Pass."

"I can't believe we just experienced what we did," said Grandma.

"How did you two actually get arrested?" asked Seth. "What did you do?"

"Literally _nothing_!" blurted Dale. "As soon as I lowered my window, the captain and his partner pulled out their guns on us! They demanded that we get out of the car immediately! We had no choice! They were going to fire on us. We had to get out of the car."

"We tried asking them what was going on," said Grandma. "But the other cop kept telling us to shut up. Meanwhile, any time we tried to speak, the captain kept saying that we had the right to remain silent. Over and over again!"

"There was nothing we could do! If either one of us made a move, they probably would've shot us! These guys were _not_ kidding around!"

"They had guns," said Grandma. "And being police officers, they could've easily shot our tires, or called for backup. We were unarmed."

"No one's blaming you for going along with the cops," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Strange as all this sounds."

"Once we were silent, they made us put on handcuffs," said Dale. "And they made us sit in the back of their car."

"Then what?" asked Ingrid.

"They drove us to the station," replied Grandma. "They escorted us in. The woman at the desk asked what was going on, but the chief assured her that he had everything under control."

"They brought us straight down to the holding cells," said Dale. "There they confiscated our phones, then ordered us to enter a cell. Then they locked the door and left."

"So that's why you never got a chance to call us," said Kendra.

Grandma sighed. "At least they were considerate enough to remove our handcuffs first."

"Warren mentioned that our arrest was never reported either," said Dale.

"Yes," said Grandpa. "And as we are all aware, that is highly irregular."

"You're forgetting about the distractor spell that was there," said Bracken.

Seth slapped his hands together, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "So, is it safe to assume that Dominera is at least partially responsible for all this?"

"We have no solid proof, to be frank," said Warren. "But yeah, I'd be willing to wager that she's got a hand in all this."

"What I'd like to know, is what exactly has she done?" asked Mr. Sorenson. "How does a dragon get the police, who can't even see magical creatures, to follow her orders?"

"Magical milk," said Kendra. "Which we know she has."

"But how would it even affect the cops?" asked Ingrid. "A couple of random cops probably wouldn't be concerned about the magical world."

"Maybe she doesn't even need the milk for this," said Bracken. "You're forgetting that dragons can turn into humans. Psuedo humans, yes. But they can still pass for normal humans, and literally no one would be the wiser. Remember _Gavin_?"

Kendra gasped. "I wish I couldn't. But your theory _does_ hold water. Dominera could have assumed her human form. And from there, she could've somehow forced the cops to arrest Grandma and Dale."

"How could Dominera have forced them to just do something like that?" asked Grandma.

"She forced Skyfrost and Firesquall to attack us earlier," said Warren. "I wouldn't put that sort of capability past her."

"This whole situation keeps getting crazier and crazier," said Seth. "We need to take out Dominera now more than ever."

"And just how do you propose we do that?" asked Kendra. "Dominera is far bigger, stronger and more powerful than any of us. And we don't know of any weakness she might have that we could actually exploit."

"Why do you have to be so negative, Kendra?"

"I'm not being negative. I'm being _honest_. There's nothing we can do to stop Dominera. We don't stand a chance against her."

Suddenly, Grandpa's face lit up, and he raised a hand.

"What is it?" asked Grandma.

"I just had an idea," said Grandpa. "One that would enable us to actually kill Dominera."

"Really?" asked Seth. "What are you talking about?"

Grandpa rolled his eyes, then sighed. "Well, I do have an idea, and it most likely would work. But it's rather... dangerous."

"We kind of signed up for this sort of thing when we became knights," said Ingrid.

"Yeah," said Warren. "Danger is my middle name. Well actually, it's Lachlan. But Ingrid's point still stands."

"Dad, just tell us all what you're going on about," said Mr. Sorenson. "What's this big idea you've got?"

"All right," said Grandpa. "I was going to propose that you use the Skullifier on Dominera."

"The Skullifier?" asked Kendra. "It's been so long. I'd nearly forgotten about it."

"We _do_ still have it," said Grandma. "It's just that after you dealt with Oblivion, there was no demand for it. It didn't work in the Demon Domain, and it would've been fatal against Ronodin."

"Of course!" said Bracken. "Magic is heavily woven into Dominera's very being. The Skullifier might just be enough to do her in, like it would've been to a unicorn like Ronodin."

"Which is precisely why I'm concerned about all this," said Grandpa. "If something unforeseen were to happen, the Skullifier could backfire, or be used against us. And a unicorn like yourself would be in a lot of trouble if that ever happened."

"I'm aware of that. Still, the power to nullify the magic of Dominera and all those other dragons might just give us the upper hand. Even at their sizes, those dragons be susceptible to our own magic if we play our cards right."

"We'd still be putting ourselves in a great deal of danger, facing all of those dragons head on," said Kendra. "But this does feel like it would be the best chance we have of dealing with Dominera."

"Any naysayers?" asked Seth.

Everyone else in the room remained silent, as they turned to stare at Seth.

"So, what are we waiting for? Let's just head into Dominera' lair and deal with her already!"

"Not so fast," said Bracken. "If Dominera has been influencing the local police, it's impossible to say where she is right now, or what she could even be up to."

"Bracken's got a point," said Warren. "If we go to the lair and Dominera isn't there, it would be a huge risk."

"We've got the Skullifier," said Ingrid. "We'll just use it on any dragon who gets in our way."

"But if just a single dragon learns about the Skullifier and manages to escape, what's to stop them from later alerting Dominera about it? The biggest advantage we have right now is that none of those dragons knows that we even have it. If Dominera learns of its existence, there's no telling what she might do."

"Okay, okay," said Seth. "I get your point. I'll use the Oculus first and find out where Dominera actually is. And then we'll go after her."

"I'll go get it," said Grandma, as she got up from her seat. "I'll be right back."

Grandma made her way out of the living room and headed up the stairs to the second floor. Seconds later, she came back down, returning to the living room with the Oculus in hand.

"Here, Seth," said Grandma, as she handed the Oculus to her grandson, then sat back down in her seat.

"Okay," said Seth. "I'm ready for this."

Seth closed his eyes and firmly squeezed the Oculus within his hands. He began to envision Dominera within his mind. Her diamond-like scales and vibrant purple eyes had left quite the impression on him, even though he had only ever actually seen Dominera for two brief instances in his entire life.

However, after a considerable amount of focusing, Dominera had failed to appear in Seth's vision. In fact, nothing could be seen. Just a void of complete blackness.

"It's not working!" blurted Seth. "I can't seem to find her!"

"What do you mean you can't see her?" asked Grandpa.

"What do you think it means? I can't locate Dominera through the Oculus!"

"Keep trying," said Grandma.

"I _am_ trying!" quipped Seth, still failing to bring Dominera into his view.

"Oh, _come on_!" groaned Warren. "How could Dominera possibly know that we even have something like the Oculus, _and_ know how to shield herself from it?"

"Well, whatever she did, it's working," said Seth, as he opened his eyes and returned his viewpoint to that of the real world.

"Dominera _is_ quite powerful," said Bracken. "But to shield herself from the view of the Oculus? Without a proper understanding of how the Oculus functions, or a powerful influx of darkness, I don't see how it'd be possible to keep the Oculus from detecting its target."

"Dominera must have found a way," said Mr. Sorenson. "Or, she already had some sort of magic protecting her body, from before any of you got involved with her."

"But protection from the _Oculus_?" asked Bracken. "That sort of thing wouldn't just happen by coincidence. The power of the artifacts is unparalleled."

"Unless, Dominera is a greater force than what we've perceived her as," said Kendra.

"But if I can't so much as locate Dominera, what should we do?" asked Seth.

"I'm not sure," replied Grandpa. "As much as I still want for Viola to be back here at Fablehaven, the matter of what went on with Grandma and Dale still has me highly concerned. And while venturing back into Dominera's lair poses itself as a high risk endeavor, trying to find information about the wrongful arrest may still prove to be important to us as well."

At that moment, Grandpa's phone could be heard ringing from within his pocket.

"Hold on," said Grandpa, as he pulled his phone from his pocket and held it up to his face. "Oh, hi Trask. You what? Really? Yeah, go ahead and send it."

"What's going on?" asked Ingrid, as Grandpa held his phone out in front of his face.

Grandpa proceeded to hold his phone with the screen facing outward, and turned it towards Grandma and Dale. Neither Kendra nor Seth managed to get a glimpse of whatever had been on the screen.

"Does this man look familiar to either of you?" asked Grandpa.

"That's him!" blurted Dale.

"The police chief!" said Grandma. "The very man who arrested us today."

Grandpa nodded, then held the phone back up to his face. "Yeah, that seems to be him, all right. You will? Great. Thank you so much. I'll talk you later."

"What exactly is going on?" asked Kendra, as Grandpa pressed the hang up button on his phone's screen.

"Trask managed to identify the police chief who was responsible for your grandmother and Dale's arrest. We now have the chief's name and his home address. His name is Emmanuel Williams, and he lives in Crossroad Pass."

"Okay," said Ingrid. "It's nice to have this information and everything. But how exactly will it help us?"

"Ingrid's got a point," said Warren. "We can't exactly go knocking on this guy's front door, demanding answers."

"I understand," said Grandpa. "He may have been under Dominera's influence or something when he made the arrest."

"So how exactly are we supposed to obtain confidential information from the chief of police?" asked Kendra. "If the arrest was never even reported, this guy's going to think it's a little odd if a bunch of complete strangers suddenly show up at his house and start interrogating him."

"Yeah, I'm not entirely on board on this whole thing," said Warren. "Even if we get someone else like Trask to go in our stead, someone showing up at this chief's house and asking about something that was kept under wraps signals a few too many red flags for my liking."

"So how exactly do we approach this guy?" asked Seth. "And how do we get him to tell the truth?"

Grandpa made a fist, then pressed his knuckles against his forehead. "I don't know," he sighed. "Trask identifying the chief has been a tremendous help. But this is still a delicate situation we have on our hands. Trying to get this information out of the chief sounds like it would be incredibly risky."

"Wait a moment," said Kendra. "I just remembered something! Something that might help us!"

"What's that?" asked Bracken. "Tell us."

"We know who Chief Williams is, and where he lives now. Why don't we just spy on him?"

"Spy on him?" asked Grandma. "I don't know. Your intentions are good, but you and I both know that such a thing would be incredibly risky."

"I know. But do you remember that whole situation with David and Zavarok? How we were unsure as to whether David's family was on the level or not?"

"Yeah, I remember," said Warren. "We went down to David's house in Miami. We shrunk ourselves, snuck inside, and managed to overhear what his parents really knew. Glad you remembered that, Kendra. I'd nearly forgotten about that whole experience."

"That _does_ sound like a good idea," said Grandpa. "So long as you don't get caught, of course. It worked the first time, and no one else was none the wiser."

"But what if Chief Williams doesn't get around to talking about the false arrest while we're around?" asked Seth.

"He may very well not," said Mr. Sorenson. "But any suspicious information that you might overhear could very well be useful to us."

"Can we see this guy's picture?" asked Ingrid.

"Yes, of course," said Grandpa, as he held his phone outwards for the rest of the family to see. On the screen, a headshot of a middle-aged African-American man with a small mustache could be seen. He looked to be fairly happy in the photograph, if the smile on his face was of any indication.

"So this is the guy," said Seth.

"Mom," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Dale. Are you absolutely sure that this guy was the same man who arrested you? He doesn't seem like a bad person or anything."

"Don't let that picture fool you," said Dale. "He was downright furious towards us. Even his behavior, it didn't feel natrual at all."

"But, that _is_ the man who arrested us," said Grandma. "He was anything but nice to us. And for no good reason."

"Emmanuel Williams," said Warren, as he typed something into his tablet. "Crossroad Pass. Here we go!"

Kendra, Seth, along with everyone else in the room, looked over at the screen of Warren's tablet. There was a gallery of pictures showing Chief Williams in civilian clothes, posing in various shots with his wife, two children and various other family members and friends.

"This really doesn't add up," said Mrs. Sorenson. "This chief doesn't seem like such a bad person. And he seems to have a lot of friends. At least online."

"Something is up," said Grandma. "Had it not been for our experience with him today, I'd say that Chief Williams seems like a nice guy."

"This online profile could just be a ruse," said Warren. "But the account was opened years ago. I want to say that Dominera is manipulating this guy in some way."

"So what do you say?" asked Kendra. "That we go to the chief's house and spy on him, and hopefully learn about what's really going on?"

"Hold on!" blurted Mr. Sorenson. "If Dominera is beyond all of this chaos, who's to say that she doesn't have some degree of security around the chief's house?"

"I'll be sure to sense for anything that's out of sorts when we get there," replied Bracken. "I'll know if anything's amiss. But nevertheless, I'd like to spy on the chief anyway, and see if there's any useful information that we could learn."

"I guess it's settled, then," said Grandpa. "You knights are to travel to Crossroad Pass and scope out the house of Emmanuel Williams. Hopefully, you'll be successful in this endeavor."

"Understood," said Bracken. "We should make preparations to head out as soon as we possibly can."


	22. Eavesdropping

**Chapter 22: Eavesdropping**

After the meeting had conclued, the Knights of the Dawn gathered their gear together, then made their way out of the house by passing through the kitchen and exiting via the back door.

"How much preparation do we really need to be doing?" asked Ingrid, as the group walked across the patio. "Aren't we just going to spy on Chief Williams?"

"Yeah," said Seth. "You'd think we were tackling a vault or something, what with all this equipment and reinforcements."

"I'm going to be shrinking us all down to a much smaller state," said Bracken. "At our reduced sizes, the world will seem a lot different from a new perspective. Not to mention it will be far more dangerous."

"Exactly," said Warren, as the group walked across the backyard. "Trying to walk up a flight of stairs suddenly becomes a lot harder when you're only two inches high. Having the dragons come with us is common sense."

"I hope this whole situation isn't too dangerous," said Kendra. "I'd hate for any of us to get caught while we're shrunk."

"You guys didn't get caught when you went to David's house," said Seth.

"Yeah, but we were unsure of what was going on with his parents, who as we know now are on the level. But with Chief Williams, we know for sure that there's something suspicious going on with him. If we get caught he will _not_ go easy on us."

"We'll need to be extremely careful," said Bracken. If the chief has been acting strangely, then there's no telling what other surprises could be lurking around his house. I can sense the place for unusual activity, but it will only help us so much."

The group then entered the lair of the dragon family, and quickly earned their attention.

"What's going on?" asked Raxtus.

"We heard about what happened with the milk truck," said Skyfrost.

"And how Grandma and Dale got arrested," said Firesquall.

"We managed to get them back, at least," said Kendra. "But there's more that we have to tell you about."

The group went on to explain to the dragons as to how they had managed to rescue Grandma and Dale, as well as what they suspected was going on with Chief Williams, and that they needed to find out more information about him.

"So that's why we need to sneak into the chief's house and see if we can learn anything about his presumable connection with Dominera," said Seth.

"We understand," said Raxtus.

"I hope you folks know what you're getting us into," said Geminus.

"I wish I knew for sure," said Warren, as he removed the Translocator from his bag and held it out in front of himself. "That said, if everybody's ready, we might as well get going."

The rest of the group reached either a hand or claw out and touched the Translocator. Warren then twisted the artifact, causing everyone to seemingly fade right out of existence.

A moment later, the dragon lair at Fablehaven had seemingly been replaced by a field of tall grass. The group's sudden emergence had caused many of the blades to bend outward in order to made room for their bodies.

"Where are we?" asked Seth, as he looked out towards the setting sun to the west. Not too far off in the distance, Seth could see a wall of trees indicating that a forest lay beyond.

"We're in a field near Crossroad Pass," said Warren. I was a little concerned going elsewhere with the dragons, in case we drew too much attention."

"Where should we go from here?" asked Ingrid.

"We might as well fly up and try to locate the chief's house," said Raxtus.

"Okay," said Warren. "I can use my tablet to help us spot the house from the air."

Kendra and Bracken got up onto Raxtus' back, while Seth, Ingrid and Warren climbed onto the other three dragons. The dragons then flew up into the air, and were soon at a vantage point from where they could see Crossroad Pass, which was roughly two-hundred feet ahead of them.

The township of Crossroad Pass was not very large, and was divided roughly into two districts. On one end of the town was where most of the businesses and government buildings were located, On the other end stood mostly residences, consisting of houses and low-rise apartment buildings.

As the dragons flew off towards the residential district, Warren made sure to keep one eye on his tablet. Once they were soaring a few hundred feet above the town, the dragons slowed down considerably.

"You know where we're supposed to go?" asked Firesquall.

"I think so," replied Warren, as he scanned over his tablet. "I think it's one of those houses down there."

"Which one?" asked Skyfrost. "There's gotta be like a hundred houses down there!"

"Let me see that map," said Firesquall.

"Okay," said Warren, as he leaned forward against Firesquall's neck and held out the tablet in front of the wyvern's face. "See the house with the red dot?"

"I see it," said Firesquall. "And I think I see it down there, as well. Follow me!"

Firesquall flew down towards the neighborhood below, prompting the other dragons to follow him. Firesquall then slowed down and came in for a landing atop the roof of one of the houses.

"Good going, Firesquall," said Warren, who was looking over his tablet as the other dragons landed next to them. "Our location is a match. This must the the place."

Bracken climbed down off of Raxtus, and stood upon the slanted roof of the house that presumably belonged to Chief Williams.

"Okay," said Bracken, now that everyone was either standing or sitting before him. "Is everybody ready?"

"I guess so," said Seth.

"Here, Bracken," said Warren, handing the unicorn the Translocator. "As long as we're small, you should hold on to this."

"Will do," said Bracken, as he accepted the Translocator from Warren, then allowed it to disappear in his hand. "Shrinking all of us is going to take a considerable amount of power. Raxtus, Geminus, would you mind lending me some excess energy?"

"Sure thing," said Geminus, as she opened her mouth and exhaled a glowing white mist upon Bracken. Likewise, Raxtus did the same thing.

"Thanks," said Bracken. His hands began to emit a white glow, and he held them outward. Bracken then exerted a flurry of white sparkles from his hands, which flew directly at Kendra and Raxtus.

Kendra then experienced a tingling sensation, as she and Raxtus both began to decrease in size. Looking over, she could see Ingrid and Geminus starting to shrink upon being exposed to the sparkles, followed by Seth, Skyfrost, Warren and Firesquall.

Once everyone else had shrunk, Bracken decreased in size as well. From this perspective, the roof seemed to be comparable to the side of a small mountain. While there was nothing to immediately compare their reduced sizes to, Kendra noticed that Raxtus' entire body could now be contained within the area of one of the roof's rectangular shingles.

"Now what?" asked Skyfrost.

"Last time we did this, we went down the chimney," said Kendra.

"Got it," said Firesquall, as the dragons flew up into the air and over towards the chimney, the top of which seemed to loom several stories above the base of the roof, even though in actuality, it was only a few feet in height.

The dragons soared over towards the top of the chimney, where the cap was located. Firesquall slipped himself and Warren underneath the cap and into the funnel.

Raxtus went in next. Barely small enough to fit into the funnel, Raxtus drifted downward into the flue of the chimney, where Firesquall was slowly flapping his wings to stay aloft in midair. The inside of the chimney wasn't as dark as Kendra imagined it would be, as light was coming in through both the top and bottom.

Once Skyfrost and Geminus had come in, the four dragons allowed themselves to drop down towards the empty fireplace.

"Stop," said Kendra, just before they hit the upper part of the fireplace. "We're entering the house proper. We can't let ourselves get caught. Be super careful."

Raxtus lowered himself further down, allowing Kendra to see a vast living room from within the fireplace. The room appeared to be empty.

"Proceed," said Kendra. But maybe stay low to the floor."

Raxtus dropped down to where he was only a few inches above the floor, and flew out of the fireplace. He flew over behind a nearby couch, and the other dragons all followed his lead.

Raxtus then veered around the other side of the couch, before landing by the doorway opposite the fireplace. The other dragons followed his lead.

"Wow," said Ingrid. "Everything seems so huge from here!"

"Where do you think Chief Williams is?" asked Geminus in a light voice.

"I'm not sure," said Warren.

"What if he's not home?" asked Skyfrost.

Kendra looked around the corner of the doorway, on the other side of which was the foyer. From this point, Kendra could see the front door, a staircase leading to the second floor, and another doorway leading into the kitchen.

"The place _does_ seem pretty empty," said Ingrid. "I can't hear else anyone nearby."

"Maybe they're not home right now," said Kendra. "We may have to wait for them."

"What if they're not coming home?" asked Bracken.

"What do you mean?" asked Seth.

"If Dominera is forcing Chief Williams to behave strangely, who's to say she'd even allow him to return home? Maybe she has him trapped somewhere, until she's ready to use him again."

"Let's at least explore a bit more," said Raxtus. "We came this far. We might as well search more of the house."

The dragons then flew over towards the staircase and ascended it, then landed on the top step of the second floor hallway.

Kendra suddenly heard a voice coming from down the hall, prompting her to shush the others.

"What is it?" asked Seth in a whisper.

"Listen."

Seth then noticed the voice as well, as did the rest of the group.

"It sounds like a woman," said Bracken. "And it's coming from one of those rooms down the hall."

"Let's check it out," said Warren. "Could be an innocent person. Could be an enemy."

The dragons rose up only a few inches into the air, and flew over the carpeted flooring of the hallway, before landing next to an open doorway.

Everyone peered around the doorway, and saw a woman sitting at a desk, her body facing away from the door. Neither Kendra nor Seth recognized the woman, who was wearing a blue sweater and had long, black hair. Upon closer observation, the woman appeared to be sitting in front of a computer screen.

"That can't be him," said Skyfrost.

"No, but she might be the chief's wife or somebody," said Kendra, who couldn't help but notice that the woman was black, much like the wife they had seen in Chief Williams' photographs.

The woman stopped typing something on the keyboard, then picked up a wireless phone headset, dialed a number and held it up to her ear.

"Hello," said the woman. "I'm calling on behalf of Asylha McCallum."

"Asylha McCallum?" asked Seth. "Who's that? And what kind of name is _Asylha-"_

Kendra, Ingrid and Warren all shushed Seth, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"Yes, there's a meeting at town hall at seven thirty tonight," said the woman. "Ms. McCallum will be there. She has something very important to proclaim. Who am I? I'm Patricia Williams. I'm the wife of police chief Emmanuel Williams. I'm trying to spread the word as best as I can. I've already posted messages online about it. The more people who come, the better. Well, at least think about it. Thank you. Goodbye."

"What's this all about?" whispered Ingrid, as Mrs. Williams put down the phone and resumed typing on the computer.

"Well if this isn't a red flag, I don't know what is," said Seth.

"We've got to learn more about this _meeting_ ," said Warren.

"Maybe you humans should just attend the meeting and find out," said Firesquall.

"No," said Bracken. "It could be some kind of trap."

"We've got to find out more about what this meeting is," said Kendra.

"If only we could see what she's typing," said Seth, trying to get a decent view of the computer screen, if not for the fact that Mrs. Williams' head was blocking it.

"Raxtus, fly me over next to the computer," said Kendra, as she slipped one of the invisibility gloves onto her hand.

"Be _extremely_ careful," said Warren. "If she catches you, we might not be able to help you in time."

Kendra then slipped the second glove onto her other hand, causing her body to become completely invisible. Raxtus then made himself invisible and with Kendra on his back, proceeded to fly across the room towards the desk.

Raxtus landed down upon the desk near the left side of the keyboard. Her invisible body now only inches away from Mrs. Williams' hands, Kendra looked up at the woman and was able to get a good look at her face. Kendra had only briefly glimpsed at the woman who had been in the photos of Chief Williams' that Warren had shown her, so she wasn't even sure if this was in fact the same person. But whoever this woman was, Kendra was partly worried that she might somehow notice Raxtus and herself. And at their current size, this woman was enormous in comparison.

Kendra then looked over at the computer screen, and saw that an email message was in the middle of being composed. She began to read it.

 _Dear John Meyerson_

 _My name is Patricia Williams. I am the wife of Police Chief Emmanuel Williams of the Crossroad Pass greater district. I have been informed by a close associate of mine, Asylha McCallum, that she intends to deliver an important speech tonight at seven thirty at Crossroad Pass Town Hall. I don't know what this is about, but she assures me that her proposal would greatly benefit our town._

 _Please try to attend if possible, and be sure to share this message with your friends, family and neighbors. There will be desserts for all who attend. Thank you and I hope to see you tonight._

 _Patricia Williams_

Just as Kendra read the final words of the letter, Mrs. Williams sent the email, causing the browser to return to her inbox, which appeared to be completely empty. The entire message had rubbed Kendra the wrong way.

Kendra leaned forward and cupped a hand around Raxtus' head. "Let's get out of here," she said, speaking in the lightest voice she could muster.

Raxtus slowly turned himself around and slowly began to step away from the computer, upon which Mrs. Williams resumed to work on. Once Raxtus had reached the edge of the desk, he jumped off the side and flew across the office towards the doorway, where the others were still waiting for them on the other side.

Once Raxtus had landed by the doorway, he proceeded to make himself visible again.

"Raxtus!" said Ingrid. "Are you okay?"

Raxtus nodded, as Kendra went ahead and removed the gloves that she had been wearing, allowing herself to become visible again.

"What happened?" asked Seth. "Did you find out anything?"

"Did she see you?" asked Bracken.

"I don't think so," replied Raxtus.

"But we did find out what's going on," said Kendra.

"We heard her talking about a meeting going on at town hall tonight."

"That's basically what she was typing in an email. It seems like she's trying to rally as many people as she can into coming to this meeting, that her friend, whose name is Asylha McCallum, is going to be attending. She's using her connection to the police chief in order to persuade people into going to this thing."

"What about Mrs. Williams?" asked Seth, looking back into the room where Mrs. Williams was still typing away on the computer.

"It's best we leave her alone," said Warren. "It's possible this whole ordeal may not be her fault."

"I would have like to have sensed her properly," said Bracken. "But at this size, it's too hard. Although I wasn't detecting anything unusual from her regardless, so hopefully that's a good sign."

"We still don't know what's really going on, though," said Geminus. "I don't know how we can get more information out of Mrs. Williams."

"It'd be too risky to expose ourselves to her," said Kendra. "We could attract unwanted attention, or Mrs. Williams might have a trick up her sleeve that we wouldn't have thought to be prepared for."

"Let's get out of this house for now," said Warren.

The dragons all flew across the hallway, then back downstairs. They made their way back through the living room, then flew into the fireplace and up the chimney, where they emerged back upon the rooftop.

With Raxtus and Geminus' help, Bracken used his magic to return everyone to their normal sizes. Next, he produced the Translocator within his hands and twisted it, and waited for everyone else to make contact with it. Bracken then twisted the Translocator again, bringing the entire group back to the yard at Fablehaven.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Ingrid, as she got down from off of Geminus.

"This meeting's not until seven thirty," said Warren. "We can take a rest until then. Have some dinner. After making a few preparations, we can go back to Crossroad Pass and see what's going to happen at this meeting."

"What about Viola?" asked Kendra. "As much as I want to look into this whole ordeal regarding the Williamses, we're still no closer to rescuing Viola."

"I'll speak with Stan and Ruth about this," said Warren. "I want to help Viola just as much as the rest of you. Maybe they've thought of something since we left. Come on, let's get back inside so that we can tell the others what we've learned."


	23. The Meeting

**Chapter 23: The Meeting**

Not long after the group went back inside the house, the family was ready to eat dinner. There had not been much time for Grandma to prepare an elaborate meal, so Warren made a quick return back to Crossroad Pass via the Translocator and picked up some takeout pizzas in the interim.

Due to the tension that had been going on, little in the way of conversation took place during dinner. Once everybody had had their fill of greasy pizza, Warren and Bracken had conversed with Grandpa and Grandma in private in Grandpa's study. The rest of the family had opted to wait for them in the living room.

After a short while, Grandpa, Grandma, Warren and Bracken all walked into the living room, having arrived from the direction of Grandpa's study.

"Did you guys decide on a plan?" asked Kendra.

"Indeed we did," replied Grandpa. "And we've reached a conclusion. Getting Viola back is of the utmost concern. However, what's been going on with regards to the Williamses is also highly suspicious."

"So what are we going to do?" asked Ingrid. "I want to get Viola back right away. But this meeting might be really important."

"Precisely," said Grandma. "That's why we've proposed that you knights split up into two groups. One group will travel to Dominera's lair to rescue Viola, while the other will scope out the meeting."

"Wait," said Seth. "How's the group that goes to Dominera's lair going to deal with Woxull? She's just going to sniff them out."

"We've got a way of dealing with her now," said Warren. "If Woxull senses us, she's going to regret it."

Kendra then glanced at her watch, and saw that the time was now seven twenty-one. "We've got to get going if we're going to get to this meeting on time."

"But, who's going where?" asked Ingrid.

"We've already decided," said Bracken. "Seth, Warren and Raxtus will be heading to Dominera's lair. Kendra, Ingrid and Geminus will go to the meeting with me."

"Hold it," said Ingrid. "That seems sexist! You're sending the boys on the more dangerous mission! What gives?"

"With all due respect, Seth is the only one of you knights with any exceptional powers," said Bracken. "And Warren has the most training and experience. It's for the best if they go. We've got nothing against you girls."

"Actually, there's still going to be a girl with us," said Warren. "Surprise!"

In a flash of brilliant light, Bright and Clover both appeared in the center of the living room. Both of their bodies gave off a stunning, luminescent glow.

"Hey, girls!" said Seth.

"Bracken sent for us only moments ago," said Bright.

"We heard things were dire, so we came to Fablehaven to help you," said Clover. "But our wards will be okay for the moment."

"You're helping us?" asked Ingrid.

"Precisely," said Bright. "I'll be joining you girls at this meeting, while Clover will go with the boys."

"We're all going to head out to Crossroad Pass first," said Warren. "From there, my group will continue on to Dominera's lair with the Translocator. "We'll try to keep in touch. Hopefully we won't be gone for too long."

"Let's get going," said Ingrid. "We don't have much time!"

The group then made their way out of the house, where they met up at the dragon family's lair and quickly explained their plan to them.

"What about us?" asked Skyfrost. "Don't Firesquall and I get to come, too?"

"It's better if you don't," replied Bracken. "We need to keep a low profile in Dominera's lair, which is too hard to accomplish with you wyverns around. And a meeting at city hall is no place for you two either."

Firesquall groaned. "That's not fair!"

"I hate the thought of ditching you guys, but Bracken's got a point," said Seth.

"Watch after Vanessa for us," said Raxtus. "We'll be back soon."

"Okay," said Skyfrost in an unenthusiastic tone of voice, as Warren pulled out the Translocator. Soon everyone in the cave except Skyfrost, Firesquall and Vanessa was touching it. Warren then twisted the artifact, warping everyone who was touching it out of the lair.

The next thing Kendra and Seth knew, the group was now standing in a field of tall grass. It didn't take long for either of them to realize that this was the same field outside of Crossroad Pass that they had traveled to earlier. To the horizon in the west, one could see that the sun was setting.

"I guess this is where we part ways," said Kendra, removing her hand from the Translocator.

"'Fraid so," said Warren. "Good luck to all of you."

"Save it for yourselves," said Bright. "That lair sounds unforgiving."

"See you later," said Seth. "I hope."

Warren twisted the Translocator two more times, causing himself, Seth, Raxtus and Clover to all vanish into thin air.

"Come on, let's go," said Kendra, as she and Ingrid climbed up onto Geminus' back, while Bracken and Bright both disappeared.

Geminus extended her wings, then flew off in the direction of Crossroad Pass. Within a minute, she was soaring high above the small town.

"You know where this city hall is?" asked Geminus.

"It's that large building down there," said Kendra, pointing down to a building with a white rotunda on one end of its roof. "I'm pretty sure."

"Okay then," said Geminus, as she swooped down towards the building. After descending long enough, Geminus slowed down and managed to come in for a smooth landing on the roof of building, next to the rotunda. Now that it was up close, Kendra could see for herself just how large the rotunda actually was.

"Why did we land up here?" asked Ingrid. "We should've just gone to the front door."

"We've got to sneak in," said Bracken, as he reappeared along with Bright.

"Yeah, it's better if nobody knows we're at this meeting," said Bright.

Kendra then noticed the grate of a ventilation shaft towards one corner of the roof. "If we shrink down, we can go into the ventilation system and sneak around the building undetected."

"It's worth a shot," said Geminus, as she walked over towards the shaft and tore the grate directly off of it. She then shrunk down into her diminutive fairy form.

"Now the rest of us," said Bright.

Bracken and Bright swayed their arms around, producing a small cloud of colorful sparkles. They then directed the sparkles at Kendra and Ingrid, causing both of them to shrink down to the size of a fairy. Bracken and Bright then shrunk themselves down as well.

Bracken grabbed a hold of Kendra, while Bright grabbed Ingrid. Together with Geminus, they flew into the open vent.

"So where do we go from here?" asked Geminus, as they descended down the metal shaft, which was being kept aglow only through the luminescence of the fairies.

"Down to the ground floor," said Kendra. "I bet the meeting room is under the rotunda."

"So we should continue in that direction," said Ingrid, looking towards the direction the rotunda had been in upon the roof.

Once they reached the lower floor, the fairies flew along the duct, then slowed down once they saw another grate with light pouring through it.

"Is this it?" asked Bright, as she and Bracken landed, letting go of Kendra and Ingrid.

Ingrid peered through the bars of the grate. "Looks like it! There's plenty of people in here!"

Kendra looked through the grate and saw rows of chairs that had been arranged before a stage. Apparently, the vent was at the bottom of a side wall.

Many of the people who were seated appeared to be eating pastries. Standing on the stage were several people. She recognized Mr. and Mrs. Williams. With them was a woman with blonde hair whom she was unfamiliar with. It was hard to make out what else was on the stage from within the vent, but there appeared to be a table, plus something else that was covered with a cloth.

"Looks like we made it," said Bracken.

The blonde woman walked up to the microphone. She tapped it a few times, causing several soft thuds to emanate from the speakers at the side of the stage.

"Good evening," said the woman. "Thank you all for coming. My name is Asylha McCallum. And I have something very important to share with everyone."

"Is this going to take very long?" asked a man who was seated in the front row of the audience. "From what I've heard, our main order of business here is to discuss how we should allocate the budget for snow removal during the winter season."

"I see. Now, would someone from the audience be kind enough to come up onto the stage?"

Several people in the audience raised their hands.

"You," said Asylha, pointing to a middle-aged woman in the front row.

The woman got up and walked up onto the stage via some stairs that were located off to one side.

"I don't like where this is going," said Kendra.

"What's Asylha gonna do?" asked Ingrid. "Cut that woman in half?"

"Thank you," said Asylha. "Now, may I direct everyone's attention over to this cloth?"

Asylha walked over to a cloth on one end of the stage that had been draped over something, which was roughly roughly three feet wide and cube-shaped.

Saying nothing, Chief Williams walked over to the cloth and lifted it up. Underneath the cloth was a cage, containing a frightened-looking satyr with bright red fur.

"She's got a satyr?" gasped Bright.

"I don't recognize this one," said Ingrid. "But still... What's going on?"

"It's a goat..." said the woman who had been brought on stage. "Why is there a goat?"

"Yeah..." said various member of the audience, who began mumbling among themselves.

"Oh, I'm not done yet!" said Asylha, as she walked over to the table. From there, she picked up a pitcher of milk and poured it into a clear cup. "Would you be so kind as to have a drink of milk?"

"Why?" asked the woman. "Did it come from that goat?"

"Oh no," said Ingrid.

"It's not actually gonna work, is it?" asked Geminus. "That woman isn't open to the idea of magical creatures. Is she?"

"Please," said Asylha. "Drink the milk."

"Is this a a prank?" asked the woman.

"I wouldn't dare try to deceive you in front of so many people, including the chief of police. Tell you what, I'll give you twenty dollars to drink the milk. If you don't like it, you're more than welcome to spit it out."

"Okay," said the woman, as she accepted the plastic cup from Asylha.

"No, don't!" gasped Kendra, worried that the milk would somehow actually have an affect on the woman.

The woman pressed the rim of the cup up against her lips and began to swallow the milk.

"Wow!" said the woman. "That milk was... delicious!"

"Look over here," said Asylha, directing the woman back over to the satyr.

"Whoa!" gasped the woman. "That goat... it's part human!"

"No!" gasped Bracken, shaking his head. "But how?"

"What do you mean it's part human?" asked a woman in the audience.

"It's one of those things from Greek mythology! Half man, half goat! They sometimes play a pan flute. What are they called, again?"

"It's a satyr," said Asylha. "You were able to see it because of the milk you drank."

"This sounds like a waste of time!" huffed a man from the audience. "That goat isn't really a satyr. How dumb do you think we are? Mrs. McCallum must be paying you something."

"She probably just laced the milk with something," said one woman.

"Like some sort of drug?" asked another man.

"I want to try it!" said a younger woman. "This sounds like fun!"

"If any of you don't believe me, you're all welcome to try the milk," said Asylha.

Several people got up from their seats and began making their way up and onto the stage.

"Step right up," said Asylha, as she began pouring milk into more cups. "I've got plenty of milk for everybody."

"This can't be happening!" said Kendra.

"We have to stop this!" exclaimed Bracken.

Asylha began passing out cups of milk to people as they approached her. Kendra watched as everyone who drank a cup looked over at the satyr and were able to see it for what it actually was. Every last person who saw the satyr had their mouths open in awe.

"They're not kidding!" said one man, as he pulled out his cell phone. "That thing really _is_ a satyr!"

"We've got to stop this," said Bright. "NOW!"

As more people climbed up onto the stage, Bracken clapped his hands together, producing a flash of light. Suddenly, the group was now standing on the other side of the vent, inside of the meeting room, albeit still at their reduced sizes.

Bracken and Bright swayed their hands around and produced a cloud of sparkles around the group. Kendra felt tingly for a moment, before she and the others, save for Geminus, suddenly shot back up to their proper sizes.

"Whoa!" gasped a woman, still in the audience, who was looking directly at the group. "Those people jus _t appeared_ out of nowhere!"

"You saw it, too?" asked another woman, as the crowd began chatting among themselves.

Kendra looked over at Asylha and the Williamses. In contrast to the startled members of the crowd, the three of them appear to look furious.

"Satyrs?" asked one man. "People appearing out of thin air? Is this a magic show?"

"It certainly is," said Asylha. "And for my next trick, I think I'll make those nice people over there... _disappear_."

"Let's put them to sleep, Bright," said Bracken, speaking softly

Bracken and Bright immediately raised their arms forward. Colorful sparkles flew out from their hands and quickly enveloped themselves around everyone in the the crowd, including Asylha and the Williameses. The only people who didn't get targeted by the sparkles were the knights themselves.

"What's going on..." asked one man, as he suddenly passed out in mid-sentence and collapsed on the floor. Likewise, each and every last person in the crowd fell asleep on the spot, regardless of whether they were sitting or standing.

Ingrid let out a breath. "All right! Crisis averted! They're all asleep!"

"Not _all_ of us," said Asylha, who was still standing on the stage, along with the Williamses.

"Our magic didn't work on them," said Bright, sounding confused.

Asylha laughed. "It's gonna take more than some weakling fairy magic to stop _us_."

"We don't have time for this," said Bracken, as he charged up onto the stage and swerved himself around Asylha and the Williamses. "I need some help over here!."

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" asked Chief Williams, as he slowly walked over towards Bracken. In the interim, Kendra and Ingrid followed Bracken's path, barely avoiding Asylha and the Williamses in the process.

"What are you doing?" hissed Mrs. Williams, as Bracken lifted up the entire cage that had confined the satyr.

"Help me!" cried the satyr, speaking in a feminine voice.

"Grab the milk." snapped Bracken. "Hurry!"

Her heart racing furiously, Kendra grabbed two of the remaining pitchers of milk from the table, while Ingrid grabbed the third and final pitcher, and they proceeded to follow Bracken back down off the stage and down the aisle in the center of the room, narrowly avoiding the Williamses in the process.

"NO!" snapped Asylha, as a bolt of white energy shot out from her hand and nearly flew directly into Kendra's path. A fair bit of milk sploshed out of the pitchers she had been holding as she slowed down to avoid the energy bolt.

"Who _are_ these guys?" asked Geminus.

"Big trouble!" replied the satyr.

"That's it!" exclaimed Ingrid. She stuck her free hand into her pocket and pulled out the Diavolt. "Time to bring out the big guns!"

As Chief Williams charged towards the group, Ingrid unleashed a bolt of electricity directly at him. Upon being hit, the police chief slowed down a fair bit, but continued to pursue the group.

"He's resisting it!" said Ingrid. "That should've been enough power to knock out a grown man!"

"Come on!" cried Bright, as she pushed open one of the doors at the front of the room and ran through it, prompting the rest of the group to follow her.

As the group ran down the hallway, they soon found themselves being pursued by Asylha and the Williamses.

"Come on!" shrieked Ingrid, as she veered around a corner just in time to evade another one of Asylha's energy bolts.

Soon the group had reached the front doors of the building. A pair of thick glass doors, the group pushed their way out onto the front steps, still holding the pitchers that they had stolen.

"What do we do with the milk?" asked Kendra.

"We'd better get rid of it!" blurted Bracken. "It's better nobody has it than letting those three have it!"

"I'll hold them off!" said Geminus, as she immediately shot back up in size to her dragon form. She then pressed her body against the front doors, just in time to prevent Asylha and the Williamses from pushing their way outside.

"The gutter!" said Ingrid, as she raced down from the front steps and onto the sidewalk.

As Asylha's group banged against the inside of the doors quite heavily and continued to yell, Kendra located the nearest storm drain, which was underneath the hood of a parked car. She immediately dumped the milk that her been in her pitchers into them, as did Ingrid.

"We've got to get out of here!" exclaimed Bright.

"Yeah," said Bracken. "Except _we_ don't have the Translocator!"

"We'll have to make a break for it," said Kendra. "Geminus, you'll have to fly us-"

Suddenly, the front doors of the city hall building flew open, causing Geminus to get tossed back several yards. The fairy dragon went flying across the sidewalk, where she crashed directly into the side of a car that had been parked in front of the building. The impact of Geminus' body had left a considerable dent in the car and caused its alarm to go off.

"Geminus, are you okay?" cried Ingrid, trying to speak over the blaring car alarm.

"Yeah," huffed Geminus, as she got up from where she had landed.

"Turn that infernal noise off!" hissed Asylha, as she aimed a bolt of energy towards Geminus, who barely evaded it. The bolt instead hit the car behind her, causing it to shatter into thousands of pieces. If nothing else, the attack silenced the alarm.

"We're out of the building now!" said Mrs. Williams. "We can drop this stupid facade now that we're out here."

"Good," said Asylha, as her eyes began to emit a glistening purple glow.


	24. Liberation

**Chapter 24: Liberation**

Upon being pulled through space by the power of the Translocator, Seth opened up his eyes to see that he, Warren, Clover and Raxtus were now standing in a clearing. They were no longer in the field by Crossroad Pass, and were no longer with Kendra, Ingrid, Bracken, Bright and Geminus.

"Where are we?" asked Clover, as she glanced around at the clearing they were now in. Seth immediately noticed that the sun had yet to set in this new location, given that they were now in a later time zone.

"We're very close to Dominera's lair," said Warren, pointing in one direction. "It's inside that mountain, on the other side of that lake."

Seth looked across the lake at the mountain that Warren had been pointing at. Having been there twice before, Seth knew exactly what would be in store for them once they crossed the lake.

"We might as well get this over with," said Raxtus, gesturing for Seth and Warren to climb up onto his backside, which they did.

"Good luck, you guys," said Clover. "I'll be with you if you need me."

"Something tells me we will," said Seth, as Clover proceeded to vanish into a small cloud of green sparkles.

With Seth and Warren now seated on his backside, Raxtus extended his wings and took off into the air. He proceeded to fly directly across the lake, where he soon came down for a landing upon the cliffside, close to where the false wall had been located.

"Warren, are you sure this plan of yours will work?" asked Raxtus.

"I'm not making any promises," replied Warren.

"What exactly _is_ this plan?" asked Seth. "It'd be nice to know in advance."

"I've got a little _formula_ with me that's sure to take out Woxull. Or so I hope."

"Is it poisonous?"

"You'd need a whole lot of poison if you want to do any real harm to a dragon," said Raxtus. "We can be pretty resilient."

"I don't want to keep talking this close to the cave," said Warren. "On the off chance that Woxull can hear us talking out here from inside, we'd lose what little element of surprise we might actually have. Put your glove on."

Seth went ahead and removed one of the invisibility gloves from his bag and slipped it over his left hand. Once he stopped moving, Seth watched as his body suddenly disappeared from view. Turning around, Seth watched as Warren also became invisible by way of the other glove. Lastly, Raxtus rendered himself invisible under his own power.

All three of them now invisible, Raxtus began to walk towards the fake wall, with Seth and Warren seated on his back. As they got right up close to the wall, part of Seth felt afraid that the wall would no longer be an illusion, and that they would be unable to pass through it.

Seth found that his fear had been put to rest as his own body passed through the phony wall, only to be replaced by a far greater fear; getting caught. Soon Raxtus had begun cautiously walking down the sloped, cavernous floor that would lead them deeper into the lair.

It was clear that Raxtus was walking in such a way that would generate as little noise as possible. But what did it matter? As long as Woxull was somewhere in the lair, she would surely snuff out the trio in moments. Seth was unsure of what exactly Warren's formula was, but regardless, he wasn't feeling entirely confident that it was actually going to work.

After about a minute or so of walking, Raxtus had reached the bottom of the slope, and was now standing before a vast tunnel that continued forward. Seth looked ahead, and surely enough, he could see Woxull approaching them from a distance.

"It's Woxull!" gasped Raxtus in a whisper. "W-W-W-Warren! Do your thing, quick!"

"Just a moment," said Warren, whom Seth could hear was rummaging through his bag. "Raxtus, Seth, I want you to lower your heads and try not to move as Woxull approaches us."

"Are you crazy?!" asked Seth, as the yellow dragon continued to march towards the group.

"Uh... pass!"

"You're not even moving from that spot," said Woxull, as she advanced even closer in the group's direction. "You little runts probably fear me now. Because you know that I know where to find you."

Woxull stopped only a few yards before where Raxtus was standing and glanced down at the group. "You're right here, I'm sure of it."

Woxull lowered her head down towards the group and began to inhale quite heavily through her nostrils. "So there _are_ only three of you. But so what? When Dominera gets back, I bet she'll be real happy to see you three again."

With Woxull's snout only a few feet in front of the group, Seth watched as a spray of white mist shot out from behind him and flew over his head, directly into the large dragon's snout and eyes.

Seth watched as Woxull sat there, continuing to inhale the mist to try and determine what exactly it was. A teensy bit of the mist drifted in front of Seth's face. He tried to avoid breathing any of it in, but soon found that his eyes were experiencing a subtle burning sensation, and were slowly starting to tear up.

After a moment, Woxull's eyes bulged opened. Her mouth and eyelids twitched around peculiarly, until without any warning, she lunged back suddenly, crashing into a side wall of the tunnel, and began to scream in pain.

"What did you do, Warren?" asked Seth, watching as Woxull flailed her arms in pain, too distracted to pay any attention to the group. Raxtus quickly used the opportunity to proceed with soaring down the tunnel.

"I used a very potent pepper spray," replied Warren. "Ruth got the recipe from Tanu. Made mostly from the capsaicin extract of the world's hottest peppers. Several million Scoville units worth of spice in that spray. You wouldn't want any of that stuff in your next chimichanga, that's for sure."

"So this was Grandma's idea?"

"Hers and and Stan's. "They figured that so long as Woxull was gonna sniff us out if we dared to set foot in this place, that we should do something to counter her. If something like bear spray can exist, why not dragon spray? And what better way to counter Miss Sensitive Senses than with that?"

Raxtus then slowed down and landed at a four-way crossroads within the tunnel.

"Which way now, Seth?" asked Raxtus.

"What's going on out here?" asked a deep, masculine voice, as it boomed its way through one of the side tunnels.

"Easy," said Raxtus quietly. "They probably can't sense us like Woxull can. Let's just stay invisible. I'd rather not make any more noise."

Seth was startled when he heard powerful footsteps approaching from his rear.

"Intruders!" roared Woxull from behind. "They're invisible!"

With footsteps approaching from the left and from behind, Raxtus decked into the right-hand tunnel. He turned around just in time to see Woxull meeting up with Zojj and Nightbolt in the middle of the crossroads.

"What's going on?" asked Seth, who couldn't help but admire the fact that Woxull's eyes and mouth were seemingly locked into one position, no doubt trying to cope with the intense pain she was in.

"Where are the intruders?" asked Nightbolt.

"What happened to _you_?" asked Zojj, as more dragons joined them.

"That invisible fairy dragon is back, along with those two humans!" groaned Woxull. "The ones who came here with Skyfrost and Firesquall!"

"Are you okay, Woxull?" asked Jallun.

"I got sprayed with something weird. And it's _killing_ me! It's like some kind of poison."

"You think you were poisoned?" asked Zojj, clamping his orange pincers together. "Come with me. Maybe my antibodies can counter it."

"Wait!" said Skyboom. "Where are the intruders? We can't see them!"

"They're down there!" huffed Woxull, pointing down the tunnel towards the group. "But the rest of you are gonna have a hard time tracking them if they're invisible."

"He's a fairy dragon, right?" asked Nightbolt. "Leave it to me."

The purple wyvern stepped before the tunnel that Seth, Warren and Raxtus were waiting in. He folded his wings together, not unlike a bat. Next, Nightbolt quickly unfurled them, exerting a large black wave of darkness down the tunnel.

The darkness made Seth feel weary, but the feeling passed just as soon as the wave itself did. However, Seth noticed that while he, and presumably Warren, were still invisible, Raxtus was not.

"There he is!" snapped Maelstrom. "Get them!"

"My power!" cried Raxtus. "I can't seem to make myself invisible!"

As soon as the dragons began advancing towards him, Raxtus immediately jumped into the air and flew further down the tunnel.

"Where are the humans?" asked Skyboom. "I can't see them!"

"Don't hurt them, whatever you do," said Jallun. "Dominera may have some _questions_ for them. _If_ we can capture them."

"You're lucky the rest of us are too big to fly in here!" growled Maelstrom, as Raxtus continued flying further down the tunnel, and was nearing the next crossroads.

"Seth, which way to Viola?" asked Raxtus.

"I-I-I don't know!" blurted Seth, who could feel as the dragons from the rear were nearing in on him. Each and every one of their footsteps seemed to cause the cavern to reverberate.

A flash of lightning suddenly appeared at the crossroads. Next thing Seth knew, Nightbolt was standing before the group.

"Maybe I can't fly in here, but I can still warp!" said Nightbolt.

"Uhh... left!" blurted Seth, prompting Raxtus to narrowly avoid getting swatted by one of Nightbolt's huge wings, as he raced into the crossroads and swerved down the left-hand tunnel.

"I'll get 'em!" snapped Jallun, as he continued to lead the charge towards Raxtus. All four of the blue dragon's claws were extended outwards, and he appeared to be closing in on the group.

Another bolt of lightning appeared in front of Raxtus, and Nightbolt once again materialized where it struck. He held his leathery wings out sideways, blocking off most of the tunnel like the wall of a tent. Raxtus was left with no choice but to slow down once he approached Nightbolt.

"You've gone far enough," said Nightbolt, as Jallun and the others caught up with them.

"I can't get through!" muttered Raxtus, who was trying to find a way past the barrricade that Nightbolt had created using his own body.

Seth looked back and saw that the other dragons were closing in on them.

"Raxtus, his face!" said Warren. "Fly up to his face!"

Raxtus flew directly up in front of Nightbolt's face. Now that they were up close, Seth was able to see that Nightbolt's right eye was green, while the left one was blue. Both of his eyes displayed a feeling of pure rage.

"What'cha gonna do now?" asked Nightbolt, whose humid breath Seth could feel blowing against his body as he spoke. By this point, the other dragons had caught up with them, and were standing directly behind Raxtus, with Jallun in front.

Suddenly, a blast of the white spray went flying into Nightbolt's face.

"What was _that_?" asked Skyboom.

"It burns!" roared Nightbolt, as he clenched his eyes and mouth shut, then clasped his claws over his face.

With the wyvern's wings no longer blocking their path, Raxtus proceeded to fly directly over one of Nightbolt's shoulders. As Raxtus flew through the opening, one of Jallun's claws pursued them. Jallun's other three claws found their way around Nightbolt, but none of his arms were ultimately able to get past Nightbolt's trembling body.

"Get out of my way!" snarled Jallun, trying to push his way past Nightbolt as Raxtus continued to fly further through the tunnel.

"That won't hold them for long," said Warren.

"It worked, didn't it?" asked Seth. "Just spray the rest of them with that stuff and they'll leave us alone."

"No dice. I used up the rest of it on Nightbolt. And even if I hadn't, I doubt the other dragons would fall for it again."

Which way now?" asked Raxtus, as he slowed down and came to a stop in midair at another crossroads in the tunnel.

Seth caught a whiff of the air. The scent was mildly reminiscent of Viola's barn, and seemed to be coming from the the path that was straight ahead.

"Go straight!" shouted Seth, once he heard the sound of rampaging dragons beginning to catch up from behind.

"This better be the way," said Warren, once Raxtus continued forward through the crossroads. I don't exactly look forward to going backwards."

The pursuit continued through this next tunnel, until they reached the next crossroads. With the other dragons still on their tail, Raxtus didn't even bring himself to a complete stop. However, Viola's scent had gotten noticeably stronger by this point.

"Left!" hollered Seth, prompting Raxtus to turn down the left tunnel.

"NO!" cried Maelstrom. "They can't have the cow!"

His heart pounding in anxiousness, Seth didn't know whether to feel happy or scared. They had at no doubt almost reached Viola. But they weren't out of the woods yet.

Soon Raxtus had flown into a large cavern. Surely enough, at the far end of the cavern was the spot where Viola was standing. She immediately let out a loud moo once she noticed Raxtus.

"We're almost there!" exclaimed Warren, as Raxtus continued towards Viola.

"Oh no you don't!" huffed Maelstrom.

Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind pushed Raxtus all the way down the to bottom of the cavern within seconds, his wings no match for the breeze. The fairy dragon went crashing onto the floor, prompting Seth and Warren to go flying off of his body.

Seth's body hit the of the cavern floor and skidded along it for a few feet, scraping the palm of his invisible right hand against the rocky terrain in the process. His knees had been partially protected by his pants, but they too felt like they had been scraped.

"Seth!" shouted Warren, who was nearby. Seth turned back towards Raxtus and watched as Warren removed his glove, rendering himself completely visible again. He turned his head back and forth, then stared at Seth. "Are you okay? You too, Raxtus?"

"ENOUGH," boomed Maelstrom, who was leering over the group, surrounded by the other dragons. "Your journey ends **here**!"

"Viola!" shouted Seth, trying to suppress his injury as he removed his own glove. "Come here!"

Viola let out another moo, but did not advance from where she was standing. At this point, she was only several yards away from the group.

"We're gonna get you out of here!" said Raxtus, as he struggled to stand up.

"She's not going anywhere," said Skyboom. "Dominera conjured up an invisible force field to keep the cow from running off!"

"What do we do with these runts?" asked Jallun, as he wriggled the fingers of his four claws.

"Capture them," said Maelstrom. "They're weak, but they might have information."

"We've got to get past the barrier," said Warren. "But the power of the force field was intended for Viola! It's too dangerous for a human!"

"Maybe I can dispel it!" said Clover, as she appeared next to Warren.

"Where'd _she_ come from?" asked Jallun.

"Don't ask questions, just grab them!" snapped Maelstrom. "There's four of them and you're the one with four arms!"

As Jallun advanced towards the group, they all ran off in different directions. However, Jallun managed to grab Raxtus's entire body in one of his huge claws.

"No!" exclaimed Seth, as Jallun lifted Raxtus up off the ground. "Leave him alone!"

"Warren, watch out!" exclaimed Clover. Seth turned his head and watched as Warren charged directly towards Viola, trying to get away from Jallun. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Warren immediately fell to the ground. He was laying completely motionless.

"WARREN!" screamed Clover, as she flew over to her fallen husband.

"You idiots really shouldn't have come here," said Maelstrom. "But you never learn, do you?"

Clover knelt down in front of Warren and placed her hands over his heart. She then started crying. "He's... dead. The barrier killed him."

Seth felt completely empty inside. Warren was gone.

"Warren..." said Raxtus softly.

"Two for one," said Jallun, as he grabbed Clover and Warren with another claw. He then turned his attention towards Seth.

"No!" huffed Seth, as a feeling of rage began to surge throughout his body. " **NO! You stupid dragons! I'll _kill_ you!**"

Jallun, Maelstrom and Skyboom all burst into a fit of laughter.

" _You._.. kill _us_?" guffawed Skyboom. "Go ahead! Just try it!"

This was it. Warren was gone. Seth immediately found himself experiencing a powerful feeling of both loss and outrage. And now, he was about to lose everything to the dragons.

Seth's angel wings then came bursting out of his shoulder blades, tearing through the back of his shirt. Seth didn't know what had come over him. But one thing was certain. He was _**furious**_.

"Hey, he's doing the angel thing again!" said Skyboom.

"Is that all?" asked Maelstrom. "What's the turkey gonna do? Tickle us with his widdle feathers?"

" **ENOUGH!** " roared Seth, as he fully extended his wings outward, energy coursing through them.

"Your power won't do you much good this time," said Jallun, as he approached Seth and extended one of his free claws towards him.

At that moment, Seth experienced a sensation as his wings began to glow and emitted a flash of light. Suddenly, Jallun had vanished, along with Maelstrom and Skyboom. And although Jallun had been holding them in his claws, Raxtus, Clover and Warren were now on the floor of the cave, although they had not actually fallen from any height.

"What happened?" asked Raxtus, as he stood up from his fallen position.

"It's like Seth just used his powers to send those dragons away," replied Clover. "As to how far, I have no idea."

"WARREN!" screamed Seth, as he charged over towards his cousin's still body and knelt down in front of it.

"Uh, Seth..." said Clover, as Seth placed a hand towards Warren's forehead. Once he made contact, Seth felt as though he was touching straw, not flesh.

"Seth," came Warren's voice from behind Seth. "I'm right here."

Seth turned around to see Warren standing behind him, alive and well.

Seth looked back at the Warren who was lying on the ground in front of him, then back at the Warren who was standing behind him. What was going on?


	25. The Chase

**Chapter 25: The Chase**

Standing on the street in front of Crossroad Pass Town Hall, Kendra's eyes were fixated upon Asylha and the Williamses, her body trembling with fear. Already should could tell that there was a whole lot more to these people than met the eye.

"You people..." said Kendra. "We know who you are."

"How did you orchestrate all this?" asked Bracken. "You used a computer to rally all these people together! How?"

"You think we're _stupid_?" asked Mrs. Williams. "We are geniuses. We've deciphered thousands of languages entirely on our own, without any outside help or guide. We can figure out how to use some contraption crafted by mortals."

"You fools are going to pay for this," said Asylha.

"At least we got rid of the milk," said Ingrid.

"There's more where _that_ came from. But you're going to pay dearly for what you did just now."

At that moment, the bodies of Asylha and Mr. and Mrs. Williams all began to glow vibrantly.

"We've got to get out of here!" said Bright. "NOW!"

"Get on my back," said Geminus, as she lowered her arms and helped to lift Kendra and Ingrid onto her back. As the two girls seated themselves, Kendra watched as Asylha and the Williamses all began to balloon in size.

"They're gonna kill us!" squealed the satyr, as Geminus tore open the bars of her cage.

"Come with me," said Geminus, as the satyr scampered her way up onto Geminus' back.

"Go, go, go!" screamed Bracken, as he and Bright each positioned themselves within one of Geminus' arms.

Everyone in the group now with her, Geminus flapped her wings and bounced up into the air. As the fairy dragon swerved her body around high above the street, Kendra saw that Asylha and the Williams had not only grown enormous, but were in the midst of altering the shapes of their bodies.

As Geminus proceeded to fly off in the direction of Fablehaven, Kendra looked back down towards the street in front of town hall. Standing where Asylha and Mr. and Mrs. Williams had been standing, and now taking up the width of the entire street, were Dominera and Qualvor, along with Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk.

"Dominera," said Bright. "Although I don't think any of us are surprised."

"Geminus, hurry up!" cried Ingrid, as Dominera, Qualvor and the three-headed Klorrg, Skremm and Iplekk leaped high into the air and extended their wings outward.

Kendra could sense that Geminus was flying through the sky as fast as she possibly could. However, Kendra knew that Geminus could only fly so fast under her own power. But having two riders on her back, along with a satyr, in addition to two more riders being held in her arms, had to be taking their toll on her.

Surely enough, once the other dragons had gotten airborne, their speed increased significantly. In almost no time at all, they had gone from trailing behind by several hundred feet, to mere yards.

"HELP!" screamed the satyr, as Dominera sneered at the group with her enormous set of gleaming purple eyes.

"You're through!" snarled Dominera, whose humid breath Kendra was able to feel like a warm mist that clouded around her body as the dragon spoke.

"Bright, help me!" exclaimed Bracken, as he held out his hands and exerted a beam of rainbow energy towards the front of Dominera's snout. Likewise, Bright did the same thing. However, their beams didn't seem to so much as faze Dominera in any way.

"This isn't working!" cried Bright.

"This ends now," said Dominera, as she extended her claws out in front of herself, and prepared to lower them down towards Geminus.

"GEMINUS, HURRY!" screamed Ingrid.

Just as Dominera's claws were about to come falling down upon Geminus, they seemingly collided with an invisible barrier, and were unable to pass through.

"What's this?" blurted Dominera, as she repeatedly slammed her claws upon the barrier, failing to breach it with every strike.

"The fairy dragon appears to have conjured a up a protective barrier around herself," said Iplekk, once Dominera gave up on hitting the barrier.

"Let me give it a shot," said Qualvor. "I'll smash it up good!"

"Is there any way they can break the barrier?" asked Kendra.

"It's been holding up so far, but I hope not," replied Geminus.

"The barrier repels physical contact," said Skremm.

"Counter it with magic," said Klorgg. "A dragon that small can't possibly be all that powerful."

"Just overpower it," said Iplekk.

"The dragon will exhaust her power trying to maintain it," said Klorrg.

"We need the Translocator!" said Ingrid.

"More than ever!" said Kendra. "We're never going to make it back to Fablehaven at this rate!"

Dominera raised a claw before the group, then exerted a blast of electrical-like energy at them. The energy surged its way around the invisible barrier, implying that it had been spherical in shape. The moment the that the surge had faded, Kendra experienced a sound, akin to glass shattering into thousands of tiny pieces.

"That should do it!" said Dominera.

Trying to come up with a solution, Kendra looked down at the land ahead, but could not seem to locate Fablehaven. However, there was a forest directly beneath them that Geminus was in the midst of flying over.

"Geminis, dive down into the forest!" cried Kendra. "Maybe we can lose them in the trees!"

Geminus immediately swooped downward, narrowly avoiding being grabbed by Dominera's claw.

As she experienced the rush of accelerating down towards the ground, Kendra looked up and saw that the other dragons fumbled around in midair for a second, before realizing that their target had descended downward.

As Geminius passed beneath the tops of the trees, Kendra could see that the dragons were still close behind them. Alas, they stopped directly above the treetops upon realizing that they were too large to fit between the trees.

Hiding under the cover of countless deciduous trees decorated in autumn leaves, interspersed with many coniferous and evergreens, Geminus continued through the forest, with the other dragons no longer on her tail. She weaved her way around each and every tree trunk that stood in her path.

Kendra looked up through the canopy and watched as Qualvor flew over the canopy directly above the group. Moments later, Kendra could hear a loud crash up ahead. Numerous trees came crashing down from the same direction, some of which collided with the trunks of other trees.

As Geminus swerved away from the fallen trees, Kendra could see Qualvor standing just beyond them, standing at a height that surpased even the tallest trees.

"Get back here!" blared Qualvor, as he began chasing through the forest after Geminus, knocking aside each and every tree that stood in his path as though they had all been made of cardboard.

Just then, more trees came crashing down in front of the direction Geminis was now flying in. As these trees fell, it became apparent that Dominera was now standing before them. At the same time, more trees fell from another direction, courtesy of Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk.

Startled by all the sudden commotion, Geminus lost track of where she was flying and crashed directly into the trunk of a thick tree. Kendra and the other riders all embraced the impact, but were otherwise unscathed. Having lost her momentum, Geminus fell down to the ground.

"Geminus, are you all right?" asked Ingrid.

Geminus groaned, as she slowly stood up. "I think I broke my snout. But I can still fly."

"Not any further, you won't," said Dominera, as she loomed over towards the group from one direction. Qualvor and Klorrg, Skremm and Iplekk did the same from where they were standing, blocking off the group in a triangular formation.

"Fairies," said Ingrid. "Do something! Make us invisible! Anything!"

"We don't have that much power left in us," muttered Bracken. "It won't work!"

"Give up already," said Dominera. "We've got you surrounded."

"If we can't stop the dragons from seeing us, we'll stop them from seeing everything!" said Bright.

"What are you talking about?" asked Qualvor.

Bright extended her arms forward, and exerted a large glob of some peculiar, rainbow-colored goop directly towards Dominera's head. The goop splashed all over Dominera's face, covering her eyes.

"Eww!" snarled Dominera, as she attempted to wipe the goop off of her face with her claw. "It won't come off!"

Meanwhile, Bracken directed another ball of goop directly into Qualvor's face, yielding the same result.

"What _is_ this stuff?" asked Klorgg, as Bright shot more goop at the three-headed dragon's middle head.

"A diversion," said Bracken, as he simultaneously conjured up a glob of goop with each hand, then directed them towards Skremm and Iplekk, effectively blinding them.

"I don't think that'll stall them for long," said the satyr, as Geminus proceeded to fly up through the trees, making her way past Qualvor in the process.

"DISPERSE!" roared Dominera from behind the group.

Kendra looked back through the trees, and could see that the dragons had risen back above the canopy, and were now back to closing in on the group's location. Their faces appeared to be clean again, as though they had never been coated in any goop to begin with.

"It's no good!" cried the satyr. "Her magic is too good!"

"They're closing in on us!" exclaimed Bright, as the larger dragons rose directly above the trees where Geminus was flying.

"Let's just grab them already!" snapped Qualvor.

"No!" said either Klorgg, Skremm or Iplekk, though Kendra had been unable to see which one actually spoke. "If we're not careful, these trees could crush them!"

"Puny humans," grumbled Qualvor.

Kendra gazed ahead, and could not believe what she was seeing. Standing several yards ahead of their current location was a small clearing. In the middle of the clearing stood a long, wrought iron fence that looked all too familiar. It appeared to stretch far into the distance in both directions.

"FABLEHAVEN!" exclaimed Ingrid. "We made it!"

"Come on, Geminus!" said Bright, as the fairy dragon flew closer to the fence. "We're almost home free!"

"NO!" boomed Dominera.

Once Geminus was no more than a few mere yards away from the fence, she immediately came to a sudden halt in midair.

"Geminus, no!" cried Kendra.

"I can't... move!" groaned Geminus, whose body appeared to be completely frozen.

"Now I've got you!" said Dominera, as her huge frame came crashing down next to Geminus, knocking down several surrounding trees in the process.

"I can't move, either!" said Kendra, who thought about reaching into her bag for the Emerock, but could not so much as move an arm from her current position.

Dominera extended her claw down toward the group. Just as it would have made contact with them, Kendra saw that she and the rest of her allies were now suddenly on the other side of fence, away from Dominera.

"What the...?" blurted Dominera, looking across the fence at the group.

Bracken and Bright were both breathing heavily. "We used our the last of power to warp us all across the barrier," said Bright faintly.

"We're safe now," gasped Bracken, who sounded like he was about to run out of breath. "And Dominera can't restrain us from the other side, so we can move again."

"NO!" snarled Dominera, as Qualvor and Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk landed next to her on the outside of the fence.

"LET US IN!" roared Qualvor, as he formed his claws into two red fists. He crouched down and slammed his fists against the fence, only for both of them to rebound off it it. The fence appeared to be completely unharmed. The sight of seeing an outside dragon unable to get past the barrier made Kendra feel far more confident and secure than she had been only a moment prior.

"We tried that the last time!" snapped Iplekk. "It got us nowhere."

"That barrier is impenetrable," said Klorgg.

"Na-na, na-na-na!" hummed Ingrid, "you can't get us!"

"Fine then!" hissed Dominera. "But you can't hide from us forever! We'll get you! Just like we got Ruth and Dale! _You_ may have won the battle, but _we're_ going to win the war."

"But what about the barrier?" asked Skremm. "We can't get a feel for any way to counter it."

"We'll just have to try everything. I'm going to order the others to come over here, and we'll try attacking it once more."

"You do that," said Bracken. "You still won't get in."

"That's what _you_ think," said Dominera. "Trust me, if we can't get past the barrier, we'll destroy everything around Fablehaven. And if you still won't cooperate, we'll destroy Crossroad Pass!"

"What?" gasped Kendra. "NO! You wouldn't!"

Dominera chuckled. "Oh yes we would. And who's going to stop us? _You_? The very same people who run away in terror at the mere sight of our true forms?"

Qualvor, Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk all laughed.

"And by the way," said Klorgg. "We've still got your cow. And all of her milk."

"Come on," said Geminus. "Let's just get away from these fools."

With the others still on her back, Geminus extended her wings and flew off through the forest, no doubt heading in the direction of the house. Behind them, it was still possible to hear the larger dragons laughing among themselves.

"Geminus, are you okay?" asked Ingrid. "You hit that tree pretty hard."

"Nothing the Sands of Sanctity can't fix," replied Geminus. "Or even a strong healing potion."

"We need some rest as well," said Bracken. "Bright and I exhausted our power during this whole excursion."

Kendra looked back at the dragons that were still standing just beyond the gate. It was hard to believe that the only thing keeping them off the property was an invisible barrier. Fortunately, it seemed to be doing its job. But was it truly impenetrable?

"Bracken, would it be at all possible for Dominera to break through the barrier?" asked Kendra.

"Normally, I'd be inclined to say no," responded Bracken. "But the barrier was designed to not allow any unauthorized individuals to get too close to it. But you all saw how close those dragons got to the fence. Nobody should've been able to get as close as they did. Yet somehow, they did."

* * *

Seth was beside himself. Not only was Warren lying dead on the floor in front of him, but Warren was apparently also standing behind him, apparently still alive.

"What's going on?" asked Seth as he felt the fallen Warren, who strangely felt like he was made of straw, and felt nothing like an actual human actually should've.

"That guy in front of you was just a decoy," said Warren. "It was a dullion conjured up by Clover that was disguised as me. Right before I, or should I say _it_ , hit the force field, Clover shrunk me so that I was out of sight. She also used illusory magic to make it seamlessly look like the dullion and I were one and the same."

"You're not _dead_?"

"No," said Clover. "We used the dullion so that we could sacrifice it, hoping to bring out your angel form in an emergency. We couldn't tell you about it, or the gambit wouldn't have worked. You couldn't know that had we faked it, or else your feelings wouldn't have been legitimate, and you would've been unable to assume your angel form."

"You tricked me!" gasped Seth. "You got me thinking that Warren had been killed, just to exploit my powers!"

"Seth, we're sorry," said Warren. "But it worked, didn't it?"

Seth sighed. "I guess. But I swear to god, don't **ever** do that again!"

"We won't," said Clover. "Probably because it wouldn't work a second time."

"But it worked this time," said Warren. "And now those dragons are out of our hair. Let's help poor Viola, before they come back."

"So, where exactly did those dragons go?" asked Raxtus, as the group scurried across the cavern towards Viola.

"Wish I knew," replied Seth. "I just wanted them to get away from us. I never gave any thought as to where they'd end up, or how they'd actually get there."

"I just hope they don't find their way back here before we leave, wherever they wound up," said Warren.

"Stop!" exclaimed Clover, once they were only several feet away from Viola, prompting the group to come to a sudden halt. "Skyboom wasn't kidding. There really is a force field surrounding Viola. I'll have to try to dispel it, but it won't be easy."

"Allow me," said Seth. He proceeded to extended his wings outwards, and felt as they began to give off a golden glow. The glow grew stronger and stronger, until there was a blinding flash. Once it had faded, everyone looked up at Viola.

"Is everybody okay?" asked Geminus.

Viola took two immense steps forward, stopping at a point so that her head was directly above the group. She let out a loud, yet pleasant-sounding moo.

"The barrier's gone!" exclaimed Clover. "Seth, you did it!"

"Way to go, Seth," said Warren, as he stroked one of Viola's massive legs.

"Poor Viola," said Geminus. "Who knows what those mean dragons could've put her through?"

"Let's get you out of here already," said Seth. "Warren, are you sure the Translocator will work on Viola?"

"It worked on Revlogg, did it not?" replied Warren. "No reason it wouldn't be able to do the same for Viola."

"At least we were successful in our mission," said Seth, as Warren removed the Translocator from his bag. "Although some of our methods were rather... _questionable_."

"Either way, I'd rather not have to go through this whole ordeal again," said Clover. "I'm starting to envy the other team. I wonder if they managed to learn anything."

"Their mission sounds like a walk in the park, compared to what we just went through."

Warren went ahead pressed the Translocator against Viola's leg. Once Seth, Clover and Geminus were also touching it, Warren twisted the Translocator a second time, pulling everyone out of the cavern and through the fabric of space.


	26. Imminent Doom

**Chapter 26: Imminent Doom**

As twilight had begun blanketing its way across the sky from the east, Geminus soared through the woods of Fablehaven, until she reached the shore of the naiad's pond. She came in for a landing there, where Bracken and Bright both got down from her body.

"Thank you," said Bracken wearily, as he wiped his brow.

"We need to return to the fairy kingdom for now," said Bright. "But we'll be back first thing tomorrow for sure."

"What is this place?" asked the satyr, who looked very confused.

"This is Fablehaven," replied Kendra. "You'll be safe here, at least until what we figure out what to do with you."

"Thank you," said the satyr, letting out a sigh of relief.

"What about the dragons?" asked Ingrid, looking back in the same direction from where they had flown in from.

"Our only hope is that the barrier is able to withstand their attacks and they give up," replied Bracken.

"Even if we were at full strength, there's no way Bracken and I would have the power to vanquish those dragons that chased us, let alone the entire pack!" said Bright.

"We've reinforced the barrier as best as we possibly could," said Bracken. "Back when we were trying to defend the preserve from Murdred. If it managed to keep him out, it should be just as good against these dragons."

"I hope you're right," said Kendra. "We'll see you later."

"See ya," said Ingrid. As Geminus flew off with the girls and the satyr on her back, Ingrid and Kendra waved goodbye to the fairy angels, who did the same in return.

Soon Geminus came in for a landing near the back patio of the house, where the girls and the satyr climbed down off of her back.

"I'm gonna check on Vanessa and the boys," said Geminus, looking back towards the dragon family's cave. "See you girls in the morning."

Just as soon and Kendra and Ingrid turned towards the back door to the kitchen, they could hear a tremendous "moo" coming from the direction of the barn.

"Viola?" exclaimed Kendra.

"It's her!" cried Ingrid, as another "moo" followed. "She's back!"

"I don't believe it!" said Geminus, as she flew over towards the direction of the barn, while Kendra, Ingrid and the satyr followed behind her on foot.

"Who's Viola?" asked the satyr.

"You'll see!" replied Kendra.

The mooing continued as the girls raced towards the barn. Looking up at the still-broken, upper part of the barn, Kendra was able to make out part of Viola's head. Kendra also sensed that other members of the family were rushing out of the house; no doubt they had heard the loud mooing as well.

Geminus had been the first to reach the barn, and stopped in front of a door large enough for herself to fit through. Once Kendra, Ingrid and the satyr caught up to her, Geminus opened the door and the three of them went inside.

Surely enough, Kendra was elated to see Viola once again standing back in her rightful spot within the barn. The giant cow looked down at Kendra's group, nodded her head and continued to moo. Above Viola, Kendra was able to see the open sky, due to the roof of the barn being gone.

"You're back!" exclaimed Seth, who was standing near the opposite wall, accompanied by the other members of his party.

"You did it!" exclaimed Kendra, as she ran over to Viola's nearest leg and hugged it, as did Ingrid.

"You don't want to know _what_ we went through to get Viola back," said Clover.

"Let's just say things kinda bordered towards death," said Warren. "You guys had the easy job."

"Easy?" muttered Ingrid. " _Easy_? You guys are gonna wanna rewrite the book as to what constitutes as _easy_ once you find out what happened to _us_!"

"Whoa," said Seth. "Calm down! And who's that satyr you're with? I don't recognize her."

"Viola!" gasped Dale, who was now standing at the entrance to the barn, accompanied by Grandpa, Grandma, Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson, Skyfrost, Firesquall, Hugo, Mendigo, Stargleam, Windshear and the reindeer. Everyone seemed to be talking among themselves.

Grandpa blew on his fingers like a whistle, drawing the attention of everybody who was standing in and around the barn.

"Okay then," said Grandpa. "It would appear that both groups have returned from their missions. Seth, it would appear that your group was successful in its mission, as Viola is back. Well done! Did everything go well?"

"It was crazy!" exclaimed Seth. "We managed to get past Woxull with the spray, but some of the other dragons still pursued us! We only got rid of them because... Clover faked Warren's death."

"WHAT?" gasped Grandma.

"It was to trigger Seth's angelic powers," replied Clover. "The shock of Seth seeing someone like Warren die at the expense of the dragons was needed to accomplish that. He was able to use his powers to whisk away the dragons that had cornered us near Viola.

"I still wish you hadn't done that," said Seth. "I'd hate to lose someone I care about, and Warren's come so close to death more times than I can count..."

"Yeah, but never on purpose," replied Warren.

"I'm serious! Please don't ever do anything like that again. I'd rather be chased by a horde of dragons than experience something like that any day."

"So, throughout all this, you were able to locate Viola and return her to Fablehaven," said Grandpa. "At least you were successful with that. We'll talk about Warren and Clover's scare tactics another time. And as for the other group, were you able to learn anything?"

Kendra and the other members of her group talked about how they went to city and how Asylha McCallum was giving people milk so that they could see a satyr.

"I take it that _this_ is the satyr?" asked Grandpa, looking down at the satyr that was standing between Kendra and Ingrid.

"Yes, and thank you," replied the satyr.

"Who are you?" asked Dale.

"My name is Flordelle. I was a wild satyr, at least until I was captured by a wyvern named Skyboom, who presented me to Dominera to be used as a specimen."

"Fablehaven is a refuge for magical creatures such as yourself," said Grandpa. "Many other satyrs live here. If you'd like, I can make arrangements for you to live here. But you'd have to abide by a treaty of rules."

"It might be preferable to living alone in the wild," said Flordelle. "Thank you."

The group went back to telling their story, and mentioned how Asylha and the Williamses revealed themselves to be Dominera, Qualvor, Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk. They also talked about how they were chased back to Fablehaven, and barely made it home.

"Yikes!" cried Seth. "I am _sorry_ I doubted you! You must have been terrified! Our group could have at least escaped at any moment with the Translocator. But you guys had no choice but to fight for survival."

"What matters is that you're all alive," said Mrs. Sorenson. "And that Viola is back and you know more about Dominera."

"And that's what worries me," said Grandpa. "Dominera was using Viola's milk to expose innocent people to the world of magical creatures. I don't know how, but she must have found a way to make it work on anybody and everybody who drinks it."

"But we _did_ get rid of the milk she had," said Ingrid. "And the others rescued Viola, so she can't get more."

"But the milk that we dumped, it may not have been Dominera's entire supply," said Bracken. "She may have more elsewhere."

"You might be right," said Warren. "I didn't see that truck anywhere when we were in Dominera's lair. More milk could've been in it, wherever it is."

"I think everyone's had a very long day," said Grandpa. "Why don't we all retire for the night? At least we're all safe here at Fablehaven."

"You don't understand," said Ingrid. "Dominera swore that she'd come back here with the rest of her dragons and try harder to penetrate the barrier. And if that doesn't work, she threatened to destroy the surrounding area, including Crossroad Pass!"

The rest of the group murmured among themselves.

"I don't know how we can stop so many dragons from causing so much havoc," said Grandma.

"What are we supposed to do?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "What can _anyone_ do?"

"I have to become an angel when they return," said Seth. "But I don't know if I'd be powerful enough."

"I'll help too," said Windshear. "But I must admit, I'm not as strong as you."

"Any help you can give is better than no help at all," said Bracken.

"Stan does have a point, though," said Grandma. "All of you adventurers need your rest. Hopefully, everyone's combined strength will be enough to stop the dragons, whenever they return."

"We don't even know when that'll be," said Kendra.

"Hugo, Mendigo and all you reindeer," said Grandpa, turning to face his audience, "I want you all to patrol the perimeter of the grounds tonight. Report back to the house at the first sign of trouble."

Hugo, Mendigo and the reindeer all nodded their heads.

"Good. Now let's all get some rest."

"What about Viola's barn?" asked Ingrid, looking up through the roofless barn at the darkened sky up above.

"The brownies have been asked to prioritize repairs on it," replied Grandpa. "Fortunately, tonight's forecast is clear, so rain shouldn't be an issue."

"Viola, I'm so sorry," said Skyfrost. "For everything. Please forgive me."

Viola let out a deep moo.

"It's okay," said Dale. "I think she understood that this wasn't exactly your fault."

Everyone then made their way out of the barn and headed back towards their dwellings, while Hugo, Mendigo and the reindeer went elsewhere. Upon entering the house, Kendra and Ingrid went up to the attic and got ready for bed.

Feeling tired, both girls soon climbed into their beds and turned off the lights. As tired out as Kendra was, she couldn't manage to make herself fall asleep. She was just too worried. Not only was the threat of the dragons more than enough to make her fret, but there was also the concern about what would become of her status among the fairies. They were still no closer to finding any answers.

After being unable to fall asleep for over an hour, Kendra gave in and downed a sleeping potion. She soon found her mind at ease, as she dropped the potion vial on the floor next to her bed, closed her eyes, and fell soundly asleep.

Kendra later found herself being woken up to the sound of Ingrid walking around the room and rummaging through her dresser.

"You up, Kendra?" asked Ingrid, as she slipped her arms through the sleeves of her shirt and pulled it down over her body.

Kendra let out a deep yawn. "Yeah, I'm up."

"No sign of the dragons yet," said Ingrid. "As far as I can tell. Lighten up!"

"This is the calm before the storm. If we can't stop those dragons, something very bad is going to happen."

After getting dressed and washed up, the girls went downstairs and joined the rest of the family for breakfast in the dining room.

"The brownies have begun work on restoring Viola's barn," said Dale, who stopped to pour himself a glass of fresh milk. "It'll take several days for them to complete it, though."

"Well, there haven't been any sightings of those dragons yet," said Grandpa, as he slathered some raspberry jam over a slice of toast.

"But will we be able to handle them?" asked Seth. "There's no telling if they'll be able to break into Fablehaven if they go all out. And even if they fail at that, how exactly are we going to stop all of them if they decide to run rampant and attack someplace like Crossroad Pass?"

"The modern world was not devised with dragons in mind," said Grandma. "As you all know, most dragons were herded into sanctuaries ages ago by powerful beings. As for the few that initially evaded confinement, dragon slayers went ahead and entrapped the ones that they could... or killed them."

"But nowadays, people who have the capacity to properly face dragons are nearly all but a memory of the past," said Grandpa.

" _This isn't right_ ," said Kendra to herself. " _I need to fix this mess that I've gotten myself into. And if I can't get help, I'll ask someone who can._ "

After breakfast, Kendra went outside, where she found Bracken, Bright and Clover all gathered in the garden. Dozens of smaller fairies were whizzing about in the air.

"Hey, Kendra," said Bracken. "It pains me to say this, but we're trying to console the fairies in case they need to evacuate Fablehaven."

"Bracken, I wish to request an audience with the Fairy Queen," said Kendra.

Bracken, Bright and Clover all stared directly at Kendra.

"Kendra, we've spoken with the Fairy Queen about this whole situation many times," said Clover. "She doesn't want the fairies to remain at Fablehaven if Dominera is able to breach the barrier."

Kendra took in a deep breath. "Well, I'd still like to speak with her. Powers or no powers, I'm still a fairy duchess, am I not? It must still have some merit!"

Bracken sighed. "Very well. We will accompany you to mother's shrine. But I don't know what you're hoping to get out of this."

"I just want to speak to her again. Before it's too late."

"Understood," said Bright, turning her attention back to the fairies. "Fairies, we'll be back before long."

Kendra, Bracken, Bright and Clover all walked along the path through the forest that led them to the naiad's pond. At the shore of the pond, Kendra went ahead and set a foot down upon the rainbow bridge that crossed over to the island.

"Well, at least this still works," said Kendra, as she moved her other foot onto the bridge and proceeded to walk over the pond with the fairy angels by her side.

Upon reaching the other side, Kendra and the fairy angels walked up to the Fairy Queen's statuette that sat in the middle of the small island.

"Mother," said Bracken. "Kendra Sorenson has requested permission to speak with you."

" _Granted,_ " said the Fairy Queen, whose voice Kendra was able to hear in her head. " _Kendra, please kneel before my shrine_."

"Yes, your majesty," said Kendra, as she proceeded to kneel down in front of the Fairy Queen's intricately carved statuette.

" _What brings you here, Kendra_?"

"I've come here for assistance. Fablehaven is in danger of being invaded, and therefore, in danger of falling. You've come to our aid in the past. Can you offer any assistance?"

" _Kendra, part of the problem is that fairy magic alone would not be powerful enough to stop so many dragons. Any attempt to do so would likely be futile_."

"Then I'm asking you this with all the sincerity in my heart," said Kendra. "Please. Allow me to become fairykind once again. Do whatever it takes to accomplish it. Please. I'm _begging_ you!"

" _Kendra, I am unable to do such a thing. We tried it the other day and achieved nothing._ "

"There's got to be _something_ you can do!" exclaimed Kendra. "You're the one who made it possible for me to become fairykind in the first place! Why is it so impossible to recreate the same scenario? Fablehaven is under attack by a much greater threat this time than Muriel and Bahamut.

" _Most of my contribution in enabling you into becoming fairykind was not power. It was guidance. You were able to create that exilir and rally the fairies back then because Fablehaven was in immediate danger, with a threat already having culminated on the grounds. This time, however, we've had time to prepare for such a calamity. In this such an event, I do not know what I can do to help you."_

"Please. You gave me advice the last time. Why are you unable to help me now?"

" _Because I do not have an answer for you this time. I'm sorry, Kendra. But I know this. When you became fairyprime in the first place, it was due to all the fairies that kissed you. It was not their raw power that allowed you to become fairykind, but their love. But the fairies don't see you as their last resort at this point."_

"If the fairies had the ability to make me become fairykind in the first place, do you suppose they still have possess that same potential, even if the conditions have changed?"

" _I imagine that they would. But we cannot force them to make you fairykind again. Their love needs to be sincere. And therein lies the problem_."

"I understand what you're saying," said Kendra.

" _I'm sorry if I was unable to help you. But Bracken, Bright and Clover must return to their duty. I will continue to monitor their actions from my realm. And remember this. I do still care about you. You became fairykind in the first place moreso because of your heart, as opposed to the raw fairy energy that was imbued upon you. But for now, I must bid you farewell._ "

With that said, Kendra could no longer feel any link between her mind and the Fairy Queen.

"Well, that wasn't much help," said Kendra, as she stood up and turned to face the fairy angels.

"Kendra, we heard everything that mother said," said Bright.

"Yeah. Lot of good that did."

"Actually, it did give me an idea," said Bracken, cracking a smile.

"What do you mean?" asked Kendra.

"Mother said that the fairies at Fablehaven allowed you to become fairykind in the first place. And if they were able to do it once before, it may still be possible for them to do it again."

"Yeah, but this time, things are different."

"Different, yes. But have faith. There might still be a way that we can make this work."


	27. The Power Within

**Chapter 27: The Power Within**

Kendra, Bracken, Bright and Clover all walked across the rainbow bridge that arced over the waters of the naiads' pond. Looking down through the transparent structure, Kendra could see the blurred figures of several naiads lurking beneath the surface of the water.

"Bracken, how exactly do you intend on getting the fairies to make me become fairykind once again?" asked Kendra, as she stepped off the bridge and onto the shore. "Your mother kept going on about how the conditions to justify such an act are different now."

"The conditions that enabled you to become fairykind in the first place aren't entirely here," replied Bracken. "But the fairies themselves still are."

"What good is that, though? The fairies don't need my assistance this time. They've got you three."

"True," said Bright, as the group proceeded to walk away from the pond and back onto the path that would lead them back towards the main house. "But things have changed now. You've since established yourself as an important figure among the fairies."

"Yeah," said Kendra. "I _used_ to be fairykind. Now I'm nothing."

"Your powers may be gone," said Clover. "But your history and reputation with our kind still remains. The fairies don't like you any less today than they did last week, when you still had your powers. The only difference, is that they just haven't admitted it."

"So, maybe they'd be willing to restore my powers, because I'm still the same person whom they chose to trust back when I initially became fairykind?"

"Precisely," said Bracken. "But this is just a theory. I can't guarantee it'll work."

"Well, there's no better time to find out," said Clover.

"But there's one tihng I don't get about this," said Kendra. "Why would all the other fairies be able to help me, when the Fairy Queen and all of you fairy angels could not?"

"Numbers," replied Bright. "There's only so many of us prominent fairies. But there's a far greater number of minor fairies. And minor or not, each and every one of them has her own, unique heart. And heart is what truly matters the most here."

Soon the group had returned to the garden, where an innumerable amount of fairies were whizzing around in the air.

"You really think this'll work?" asked Kendra.

"I don't know," replied Bracken. "But let's find out."

"Fairies!" announced Clover, speaking in a loud voice. "May we have your attention, please!"

Each and every last minor fairy that had been fluttering around on the spot suddenly came to a halt in midair, then turned their attention over towards where Clover, Bracken and Bright were standing.

"Thank you. Now, the mortal standing before you is Kendra Sorenson. Up until just the other day, you all knew her as a being who was fairykind."

The minor fairies all murmured amongst themselves, but their language was unintelligible to Kendra.

"We know that you're all confused, and perhaps upset," said Bracken. "But fairykind or not, she is still the same Kendra that you admired. Some of you may have perceived her as little more than an outlet of fairy energy. But deep down, you all cared for her."

The fairies murmured a second time.

"Kendra became fairykind because of fairies like you," said Bright. "She gave everything she had to save the fairies of this preserve, and they in turn honored her for her valiance. Many of you fairies right now are ones who bestowed Kendra's powers upon her three years ago, when Muriel and Bahamut threatened Fablehaven."

"Kendra may have lost her powers," said Clover. "But over time, she's gained so much more. She's gained skills, experience, knowledge, family and friends. And that includes each and every last one of you. Even if any of you are unable to realize that."

Passion proceeded to fly up to Kendra, accompanied by Larissa and Goldenrod.

"We still like you, Kendra," said Passion. "Fairykind or not."

Passion proceeded to fly up in front of Kendra's face and planted a kiss upon her lips. Kendra experienced a very feint tingly feeling on the spot where she had been kissed.

Larissa and Goldenrod also flew up to Kendra's mouth, where they went ahead and kissed Kendra on her lips. Once they were finished, Melody flew up towards Kendra and kissed her as well.

"It's a start," said Bracken. "But it's going to take a lot more than four fairies to make everything better."

"But we can't force them to do this," said Clover, shaking her head.

Another fairy, sporting wavy, orange hair and vibrant wings like a bumblebee's, flew up towards Kendra and stared directly into her face.

"Please, Yeddle," said Bright. "She's still the girl you trusted all those years ago."

Yeddle nodded, then proceeded to kiss Kendra as well. As soon as she flew away, a pair of identical twins with periwinkle hair both flew up to Kendra. Both of them appeared to be nervous, as a small crowd of fairies began to build up behind them.

"Jubilee!" cried Clover. "Jamboree! Kendra found you two being held captive in Murdred's castle! And even though she was trapped with you and all the other fairies, along with Stargleam and Windshear until further help arrived, she was there to console you, was she not?"

Jubilee and Jamboree both turned to look at one another, before they simultaneously kissed Kendra. "Come on, Nallie," said Bracken, as another fairy flew up towards Kendra and kissed her. "You too, Deress! Sasabliss! Wispie! All of you!"

"It doesn't matter how you and Kendra were introduced!" said Bright, as more and more fairies proceeded to kiss Kendra. "Even if you weren't there when she initially became fairykind! Show that you care about her! Because Kendra cares about all of you!"

With every kiss that Kendra received, she could feel her lips starting to tingle more and more. As fairies continued to kiss her, Kendra watched as the other members of her family approached her, coming from the direction of the house.

"What's going on here?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"Dad, I-" mumbled Kendra, who was finding it too hard to move her lips as a pink fairy tried to kiss her.

"The fairies are showing their appreciation for Kendra," said Bright. "Please try not to interfere."

"Kendra, are you okay?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

Finding herself unable to speak with the constant stream of fairies flying up to and kissing her lips, Kendra opted to produce a thumbs up with her hand.

"Why are they kissing her of all things?" asked Ingrid. "It's not like she's fairykind anymore."

"Because Kendra still means something to the fairies," said Bracken. "Even if she doesn't have any powers."

"How is _this_ supposed to help?" asked Grandma. "We've still got Dominera to deal with!"

Before long, it appeared that each and every final fairy in the yard had kissed Kendra. Kendra had not actually made much effort to count the fairies, but she figured that easily over one-hundred fairies had kissed her. All of the fairies who had kissed Kendra were now standing on the grass in front of her.

"Now what?" asked Kendra. "I've been kissed by every fairy here!"

"Not all of them," said Warren, as he marched up towards Kendra and kissed her on her lips. The feeling Kendra got from Warren's kiss was more intense than it had been from any single fairy. "I may only be fairystruck, but it can't hurt, can it?"

"And that just leaves us," said Bracken, as Clover went up to Kendra and kissed her on her lips. The feeling was strong, just like Warren's had been.

"Funny," said Kendra. "Warren's kiss was strong. But yours felt no stronger, Clover. And you're a fairy angel."

"It's not about power," said Clover. "It's about love. And not only are you our friend. But you're also our family."

Bright then kissed Kendra. And despite not being a relative, her kiss felt just as powerful as Clover's and Warren's.

"Don't forget us!" said Raxtus, as he and Geminus landed in front of Kendra. The two fairy dragons both lowered their heads and kissed her with their large, scaly lips. Thankfully, their kisses still felt assuring.

Bracken nodded. "I guess that just leaves me," he said, as he stepped up in front of Kendra. He then puckered his lips and gave Kendra a kiss.

The feeling that Kendra got from Bracken's kiss felt unlike any other kiss she had ever had. As long as she was within contact with Bracken, Kendra could feel an incredible power surging from the tips of his lips, which flowed all throughout her body. The feeling grew stronger and stronger. Suddenly, what Kendra felt could best be described as a shock, and she quickly pulled herself away from Bracken.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Bracken, as she rubbed her lips. They felt numb for a second, but soon felt normal shortly afterwards, along with the rest of her body.

"Are you okay?" asked Grandpa.

"Yeah, I think so," said Kendra. "The fairies were just trying to help me. But now they're done, and I _still_ don't feel any different."

"Kendra, we're sorry," said Clover. "But I don't know what else we can possibly do at this point."

"Is Kendra going to be okay?" asked one of the minor fairies.

"What's going to happen to Fablehaven?" asked another fairy.

"I don't know," replied Kendra, shaking her head, until her eyes suddenly bulged opened upon realizing what she had just experienced. "Oh my god! Those fairies just spoke, and I actually understood them!"

"You're kidding..." said Grandma.

"No!" blurted Kendra, as she held up her hands, palms facing forwards. "I just understood the fairies!"

Kendra then turned her attention back towards the minor fairies. "Quick! Say something else!"

"Like what?" asked one of the other fairies.

"There!" exclaimed Kendra. "That fairy just said _like what_!"

"She did," said Bright, nodding in approval. "But, are you really fairykind?"

"Kendra _does_ feel different now," said Clover, as she moved her hands around Kendra, keeping them a few inches away from her body. "She feels like she did when she was previously fairykind."

"I don't believe this!" said Bracken. "It really worked!"

All the fairies that were now standing on the ground suddenly cheered, their voices producing a harmonic chorus.

"But, am I actually fairykind again?" asked Kendra.

"Why don't you test it?" asked Ingrid. "Do something you've only been able to do when you were fairykind."

"Okay," said Kendra, looking down at all the minor fairies who were standing before her on the grass. "In the name of the Fairy Queen, I order you all to... uh... spin around three times!"

Everyone watched in awe as each and every last minor fairy spun around on the spot precisely three times, then came to a halt. Some had spun clockwise, other counterclockwise.

"This is unbelievable," said Mr. Sorenson. "I know that none of us were around to see when you became fairykind the first time. But I think I speak for all of us when I say that we're glad we were able to see it happen now."

"But how did this all actually work?" asked Seth. "And couldn't the fairies technically just do this to anyone they want to?"

"It was the love that all of us had for Kendra in the first place that made this possible," replied Bracken. "Kendra may not have had her powers anymore. But powers or no powers, she's still the same person we always appreciated. What we just did right now for Kendra, it wouldn't have worked on anybody else. And that's because Kendra was the one who was fairykind in the first place."

"I can't believe the fairies did this for me," said Knedra. "The answer to my problem was here the whole time. Had I not lost faith in myself, we might've realized this sooner."

"There's one thing I don't get, though," said Ingrid. "Kendra has her powers back, and she's still a fairy duchess, is she not? How come she didn't revert back into a unicorn upon regaining her powers?"

"That is a very good question," replied Bracken. "And one that we should definitely consult Mother for. Kendra has met the same criteria before, but the conditions are now different."

At that moment, Hugo came running up towards the group, approaching from the direction of the front gate. He slowed down and came to a stop just a few feet in front of where everyone else had gathered.

"Hugo!" exclaimed Dale. "What is it?"

"They're here..." boomed Hugo.

"Dominera," said Bright.

Hugo nodded. "Many dragons. Outside front gate. Trying to get in."

Kendra, your powers could not have returned at a better time," said Warren. "I just hope they're as good as they always were."

"Me too," said Kendra. "I need to become fairyprime, and I haven't had time to properly test all my powers."

"Well, there's no better time to try," said Raxtus, as he walked up towards Kendra and lowered his body. "But we need to get to the gate right away!"

"Understood," said Kendra, as she climbed up onto Raxtus' back, and the fairy dragon stood up. Kendra then turned to face everyone.

"Fairies! In the name of the Fairy Queen, I ask that you all accompany me to the front gate of Fablehaven. There, I will need your assistance in becoming fairyprime. The rest of you, follow along anyway!"

Raxtus then extended his wings and flew off in the direction of the front gate with Kendra on his back. Everyone else followed his lead, with the other dragons and their riders trailing close behind.

Before long, Kendra could see the front gate of Fablehaven. Standing on the other side was Dominera, surrounded by every other member of her pack.

"Look!" said Woxull, pointing towards Kendra. "They're coming!"

Dominera chuckled, as Raxtus landed not too far away from the gate on the inside of the boundary.

"Well, well, well," said Dominera, as the other dragons landed next to Raxtus. "You really think that this barrier can keep us out of here forever? I'm insulted."

"Dominera!" snapped Kendra, as she got down from off of Raxtus. "Leave this place at once, and refrain from attacking elsewhere!"

"And _why_ should I do _that_? I don't think you understand, but I take orders from absolutely no one!"

"You couldn't break through this barrier before, what makes you think you can do so now?" asked Seth, who had climbed down from Skyfrost.

"Nightbolt, blast the barrier!" said Dominera. "Zojj, you do so as well!"

Nightbolt unfurled his wings, causing a wave of darkness to flow towards the gate. However, the darkness bounced off a seemingly invisible barrier and rebounded up into the sky.

"Forget dark magic," said Zojj. "I'll just melt the stupid gate with my acid!"

Zojj aimed his face down towards the gate and opened his mouth. A stream of clear liquid spewed out of his mouth and went flying at the gate. However, like the wave of darkness that preceded it, the acid ricocheted off of the gate and went flying into the trunk a nearby tree, which immediately started to melt.

"All right," said Dominera. "That tears it! Let's all attack the barrier at the same time! Skyboom! Charge towards the barrier at full supersonic speed! Maelstorm and Nightbolt, unleash lightning up it. Qualvor, you must charge at the barrier with everything you've got..."

"That's enough!" blared Kendra, once the fairies had reached the group.

"You think you're so brave?" asked Dominera. "Step outside of your little _comfort zone_ and say that."

"We're brave," said Seth. "But we're not _stupid_."

"All right, everybody!" said Bracken. "NOW!"

Kendra watched as Bracken, Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus turned into colorful balls of glowing energy. At the same time, the dozens of smaller fairies became colorful, albeit smaller balls of energy as well. Lastly, Warren, Ingrid, Skyfrost and Firesquall had become balls of energy under the influence of the fairies. Each and every ball went flying into Kendra, who could now feel their energies surging through her body.

Seth watched as Kendra's hair shifted to rainbow streaks, while translucent wings grew out of her back.

"It worked!" exclaimed Kendra.

"What the hell is going on here?" asked Dominera.

"I'm not entirely sure, said Skremm, as Klorgg and Iplekk shook their heads in response.

"So what?" asked Jallun. "Now there's far less of them to worry about. Not that I was ever worried."

"Yeah," said Qualvor. "They don't scare me!"

"My turn," said Seth. As he could feel positive energies overflowing from Kendra, who was right next to him, it did not take him much effort to assume his angel form. Within seconds, Seth's wings had grown out of his back.

"Seth, give me your hand," said Kendra, as she extended her left hand out towards Seth.

"Got it," said Seth, as he accepted his sister's hand with his right. Upon contact, Seth could feel just how much power was flowing between the two of them. They quickly turned to face the dragons on the other side of the gate.

"Are you ready to admit defeat?" asked Dominera. "Admit us into Fablehaven right now, and we'll go easy on you."

"Now, Seth!" shrieked Kendra.

Kendra then held her right hand up towards Dominera, and exerted a glistening rainbow at her and the other dragons. Likewise, Seth held up his left hand and unleashed another rainbow that passed over the gate.

Both of the rainbows expanded and enveloped outward, until their glows were touching each and every last dragon. In a blinding flash of light, all of the dragons suddenly disappeared. Except for Dominera, who remained exactly where she had been standing.

"What happened!?" asked Dominera, as she looked around, trying to figure out what happened to all of the other dragons.

"We banished all of the other dragons!" shouted Seth. "Still think we're pathetic?"

Dominera snarled. "Obviously, your combined power was not enough to banish me!"

"Should we try again, Kendra?" asked Seth.

"I don't know," replied Kendra. "The first rainbows weren't enough!"

"Maybe it'll work this time, since all the other dragons are gone!"

"Your power just warped them elsewhere," said Dominera."I can feel it. They didn't go far."

"Well you can join them!" said Seth, as he exerted another rainbow towards Dominera, as did Kendra. However, Dominera was still standing in the same spot.

"It still didn't work," said Kendra. "Our combined power doesn't have any effect on her!"

"What was your first clue?" asked Seth, as he stared directly into Dominera's gleaming purple eyes. "But in all seriousness, what are we going to do now?"


	28. The Favor

**Chapter 28: The Favor**

Kendra and Seth both gazed up at Dominera, whose towering presence loomed over the far side of the front gate. Despite their best efforts, they had been unsuccessful in getting rid of the Dragon Queen, despite doing away with the rest of her pack.

"Well, at least she can't do anything to us from out there," said Seth.

"Yeah, except stand guard, for who knows how long," noted Kendra.

"Enough of this!" roared Dominera. Her eyes glistened like amethysts, followed by a flash of bright light.

Once the light had faded, Kendra and Seth were startled to see that Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk was now standing by Dominera's side. Somehow, the three-headed dragon had returned to their leader.

"It would appear that those two humans have displayed incredible power," said Iplekk.

"They warped all of us away, except for you, Dominera," said Skremm.

"Just try bringing the rest of them back," said Seth. "We can banish them faster than you can retrieve them!"

"Yeah, but for how long?" asked Kendra, speaking in a light whisper.

"You two will exhaust your powers before long if this keeps up," said Klorgg. "But Dominera can keep going."

"What's the matter?" asked Dominera, looked down at Kendra and Seth. "Afraid to face me without a magical barrier to protect you?"

"We're not cowards," said Seth. "We're just... smart."

"Smart?" huffed Skremm. "You may possess _some_ level of intelligence. But compared to the three of _us_ , every member of your group is an imbecile!"

"Oh, please," said Seth.

"The fairy energy that the female is radiating," said Dominera. "It's really something else. And if you think you're so great, then I challenge you to a fair fight."

"A fair fight?" asked Kendra.

"Yes. You appear to be what can only be described as fairykind."

"I'm not interested," said Kendra, dreading the thought of having to fight Dominera.

"Then I will proceed to attack other humans at some point," said Dominera. "I don't know where. I don't know when. And I don't know how many. But humans will be mauled on behalf of your cowardice."

"No!" exclaimed Kendra. "You can't!"

"Then agree to fight me. Away from here."

Kendra lowered her head. "Okay. What do I have to do?"

"KENDRA!" gasped Seth, worried about where this situation was possibly headed.

"Our fight will take place in the Grand Canyon," said Dominera, turning towards Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk. "You three. Come up with the coordinates for the location of this fight."

Dominera snapped her fingers, causing a large piece of parchment to appear in front of the three-headed dragon, levitating in the air in front of their heads. Skremm and Iplekk were now each holding a stylus in their claws, which they both used to begin writing something down on the parchment.

"What are they doing?" asked Seth.

A moment later, Skremm and Iplekk pulled their claws away from the parchment. The parchment then drifted down towards the ground, shrinking in size as it lowered. By the time it landed on the ground in front of the gate, it was the size of a standard piece of note paper.

"This parchment contains the coordinates for your fight against Dominera, "said Klorgg. "Be there in six hours."

"Or else..." said Dominera, as she smacked her claws together, causing herself to suddenly vanish, along with Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk.

Kendra stared out between two bars of the gate, looking down at the parchment that was now lying on the ground, seemingly unattended.

"You think it's safe to take?" asked Seth, as his wings regressed into his back.

"I'd rather not risk opening up the gate," said Kendra. "I'll use magic to bring it inside."

Kendra extended a hand towards the gate and exerted a small flow of rainbow-colored sparkles from her fingertips. The sparkles slipped between the bars of the gate and surrounded the paper. Under the influence of the sparkles, the paper whisked its way over towards the gate and passed between two bars, then flew up in front of Kendra, who grabbed it in her hands.

At that moment, everyone who had aided Kendra in assuming her fairyprime form suddenly appeared around her. In turn, Kendra reverted back to her normal form.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Warren. "What did you just _do_?"

"I don't know..." said Kendra, shaking her head. "I don't know how I'm ever going to stop Dominera!"

"You never should have agreed to fight her one-on-one!" cried Bracken.

"I know. But I didn't know what else to do! Seth and I... our combined power had no effect on her! I had to do _something_ to get her to go away without killing people!"

"Kendra, your intentions were all well and good," said Geminus. "But you've put yourself in serious danger! And if you run away from this fight, innocent people are going to be hurt!"

"I got scared. I wasn't thinking. I'd just gotten my fairykind powers back, and I think I was too overexcited. God... I'm such an idiot."

"You're hardly an idiot," said Seth. "But... maybe you didn't quite make the greatest decision a moment ago."

"I don't think there was any sensible decision Kendra could have made," said Bright. "Dominera really _is_ too powerful."

"Then how can Kendra, nay anyone, stop her?" asked Ingrid.

"I don't know," replied Bracken. "As powerful as Kendra can be, I think that Dominera simply outclasses her. She's not vulnerable to fairy magic like a demon is. In fact, from what I can assume, she's highly resilient. Probably to almost any magic."

"I need to become a unicorn again!" said Kendra. "If I was able to use my horn to seemingly grant a wish and go so far as to alter reality, then surely I'd have the power to defeat Dominera."

"So what's stopping you?" asked Seth. "You've got your powers back. Assume your unicorn form."

"How do I do that?"

"You don't," said Bright.

"What do you mean?" asked Kendra.

"Kendra, you're not a unicorn. Not anymore, at least. I've been unable to detect such a presence from within you ever since you regained your fairykind abilities. You cannot become a unicorn, because you are _not_ a unicorn."

"But I _was_ a unicorn. Just the other day!"

"Yes, but you also _lost_ that status," said Clover. "We fairies were able to restore your fairykind abilities. But not your unicorn prowess. That took being crowned as a fairy duchess."

"If none of you hold the power to restore my unicorn form, then we need the help of someone who _can_ ," said Kendra. "I'd like to visit the Fairy Queen as soon as possible."

"Understood," said Bracken. "Either way, she'll be elated to see that, if nothing else, you're back to being fairykind."

"Mind if I take a gander at this?" asked Warren, as he gently pulled the parchment that Kendra was holding from out of her hands, and glanced over it.

"What does it say, anyway?" asked Bright.

"It seems to be a map of the Grand Canyon, along with geographical coordinates. Supposedly, it'll lead us to the very spot where Dominera wants to battle Kendra."

"About that..." said Raxtus. "That doesn't seems like a very wise decision, Kendra."

"I know..." said Kendra, now starting to regret the choice that she had made rather hastily. "That's why I need to pay a visit to the Fairy Queen, to see if she can help me."

"But, what if she _can't_ help you?" asked Ingrid. "Bracken, do you think-"

"I don't know whether mother would be able to help Kendra or not," replied Bracken. "Only thing we can do at this point would be to go and ask her."

"But what if she can't help Kendra?" asked Seth.

Bracken shook his head.

"Well, we might as well go and get this over with," said Bright. "Bracken, we should chaperone Kendra for this visit."

"Understood," said Warren. "The rest of us are gonna head back to the house and report back to the others."

Kendra, Bracken and Bright all climbed up onto Raxtus' back, while Seth, Ingrid and Warren got onto the backs of the other dragons. Raxtus flew off in the direction of the naiads' pond, while, Skyfrost, Firesquall and Geminus headed towards the house.

After a fairly short flight, Raxtus had flown over the naiads' pond and came down for a landing on the small island in the middle.

"Well, this is it," said Bracken, as he, Kendra and Bright slipped down off of Raxtus' backside.

"I'll see you off from here," said Raxtus. "Good luck, Kendra!"

Raxtus then flapped his wings, and soon took off into the air, flying in the direction of the house.

"He's right," said Kendra. "I'm going to need all the luck I can get right about now. If I'm not lucky, I won't get to become a unicorn again, and I then I'll never stand a chance against Dominera."

"You won't know unless you try," said Bright.

"And if I try, and it doesn't work, what then?"

"We won't stop believing in you," said Bracken. "There's a reason why you became a unicorn in the first place. And while we may not entirely understand what that reason is, I'm sure that it still exists within you."

Bracken and Bright directed their attention towards the statuette of the Fairy Queen that sat on the center of the islands. No sooner had they extended their hands towards the statuette did Kendra find herself standing in another world.

The tranquil utopia of the Fairy Kingdom now surrounded Kendra, Bracken and Bright. Grassy fields and hills filled with arrays of colorful flowers lay in nearly every direction as far as the eye could see, while numerous rainbows arced across the sky.

In one direction, Kendra could see the royal castle of the Fairy Queen. She followed Bracken and Bright towards the town that surrounded the castle, and they soon made their way into the castle itself. Before long, the trio found themselves standing in front of the doors to the throne room, upon which Bright knocked several times.

"Enter," came the Fairy Queen's voice from the other side of the door.

As soon as the doors magically opened inward, Kendra and the fairy angels entered the throne room, where the Fairy Queen was sitting upon her throne at the far end of the room. The three of them approached the Fairy Queen.

"Kendra," said the Fairy Queen, as Kendra stopped at the base of the dais. "I have been watching you. I've sensed that you are now fairykind once again. I knew you could do it. Well done."

"Your majesty," said Kendra, "did you know that this plan would even _work_?"

"I wasn't entirely certain. I had my suspicions. However, I could not force your hand. You needed to discover that the fairies still cared for you for yourself. Not because I said they would."

Kendra took a deep breath. Had the solution to her predicament really been under her nose the entire time?

"Look, the important thing is that Kendra is fairykind again," said Bracken. "But we have a serious problem on our hands now!"

"I understand," said the Fairy Queen. "Dominera still poses a threat. And I'm not sure what can be done about her. Kendra, if your powers and Seth's combined are unable to weaken Dominera, then I'm not sure what else can be done to increase them. I'm sorry."

"But Dominera's given Kendra an ultimatum," said Bright. "Either Kendra fights her, or Dominera will attack innocent people!"

"We don't have the strength to deal with Dominera, not to mention the other dragons in her pack," said Bracken.

"Well I just don't have a way to suddenly make Kendra more powerful!" said the Fairy Queen in a raised voice, which had startled Kendra. This had been the first time that Kendra had ever heard a fairy raise her own voice so significantly. "I want to help. I really do. But Kendra is already fairykind. And if becoming fairyprime isn't good enough for her, what else can I do?"

"I can only think of one solution," said Kendra, who could feel her heart pounding heavily due to her nervousness. "I need you to turn me into a unicorn. Again."

The Fairy Queen sighed. "A unicorn? Kendra, I can't just _do_ that."

"Why not?" asked Bright. "You've already crowned Kendra a duchess, which in turned caused her to become a unicorn. And despite everything that's happened since, she's still a duchess, is she not? So why, if she has her fairykind powers back, is she not a unicorn again?"

"I don't know," replied the Fairy Queen, shaking her head. "When I dubbed Kendra as a duchess, she gained her unicorn powers. However, even with her duchess title, she lost all her powers. And now that Kendra has her powers back, she's no longer a unicorn, despite technically still being a duchess."

"We understand that," said Bright. "What we need is a way to trigger the unicorn transformation again."

Kendra nodded. "I became a unicorn because I was dubbed a fairy duchess. And because I stopped being part fairy, maybe I technically couldn't qualify as a fairy duchess. But, since I'm fairykind again, why couldn't I just be crowned a duchess a second time? Maybe that'll restore my unicorn form."

The Fairy Queen shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kendra. But even though you did lose your powers, you've still retained your title as a fairy duchess this entire time. To falsely dub you as a duchess, when you already are one, would accomplish nothing."

Kendra paused for a moment, and thought to herself. "Revoke my title," she said. "That way, we can just have a do-over and start fresh."

Again, the Fairy Queen shook her head. "Kendra, I cannot revoke your title just because you ask me to do so. Fairy royalty is both very serious and delicate. It's woven into the fiber of your very being. The only way that I could only ever rightfully revoke your status would be if you did something despicable to betray our kind. And if you _did_ do such a thing, I don't see how I could ever allow you back into our society."

"You can't just _make_ her a unicorn?" asked Bright.

"I'm afraid not. There's needs to be more justification than Kendra simply wanting to become more powerful, as a unicorn can be a very powerful creature on its own. This isn't something that I can just _do_."

Kendra thought to herself for a moment. There had to be a a way. There just had to!

"Kendra?" asked the Fairy Queen, uncertain of the lack of any response that Kendra had given her.

"I've got it!" exclaimed Kendra. "I know what to do!"

"You do?" asked Bracken.

"Yes. I still have my favor from you," said Kendra, looking directly at the Fairy Queen.

The Fairy Queen nodded. "That's right! I'd nearly forgotten about about that. It's the favor I promised you from when you destroyed Murdred."

"That's it," said Kendra. "And I'd like to redeem if. If you'll let me."

"Now that's something I should be able to do," said the Fairy Queen. "But Kendra, are you absolutely sure that this is what you want?"

Kendra took a deep breath. "It is. Please, your majesty. I would like to use my favor from you to become a unicorn."

"Very well. I'll use the power of your favor to grant you a unicorn form. But I don't know for certain what the end result will be."

"Please try," said Kendra. "At this point, I'm not sure what I even have to lose."

The Fairy Queen closed her eyes and clapped her hands together. A large cushion appeared, floating before the Fairy Queen. On the cushion sat four star-shaped diamonds, each one roughly the size of a baseball. The Fairy Queen picked up one of the diamonds and the cushion promptly vanished, along with the other gems that were still on it.

"This crystal represents your favor," said the Fairy Queen, as she held up the diamond. "Once I grant your favor, it will be consumed, and I will be unable to grant you another one, as the other three belong to Seth, Warren and Ingrid. Do you understand?"

Kendra nodded. "Yes. I'm aware of what this means."

"All right, then," said the Fairy Queen, as she stood up from her throne, then walked down to the base of the dais where Kendra, Bracken and Bright were all standing. She then held out the diamond towards Kendra. "There's no going back past this point. Are you prepared?"

"Yes."

"Very well. I, Sylvia, queen of the fairies, do hereby agree to fulfill the favor that I have entitled to Kendra Sorenson. As per Kendra's request, I will shall grant her the form a unicorn."

As the Fairy Queen spoke, the diamond began to glow. Once she finished, a beam of white light shot out of it and hit Kendra. The beam made Kendra's entire body feel rather tingly. Once it faded, Kendra noticed that the diamond had vanished from the Fairy Queen's hand.

Suddenly, Kendra's entire body began to feel strange. However, the experience did not feel completely alien to her. Kendra found herself falling forward, only for her arms to grow outward and hit the floor, as the rest of her body grew larger. Within seconds, Kendra's hands and feet had turned into hooves, while a spiraled horn emerged from her head, and a tail popped out of her rear.

"It worked!" exclaimed Bracken. "Kendra, you're a unicorn again!"

"Look!" exclaimed Bright, as she snapped her fingers, causing a decorative mirror to appear in front of Kendra.

Kendra looked into the levitating mirror, and was at last able to see her own unicorn form for herself. Like others had described it to her previously, her fur was pink, while the front of her mane was red in color. She was unable to see the rest of her mane, but she assumed that it had rainbow-colored streaks, not unlike Bright's unicorn form.

"I... don't know what to say!" exclaimed Kendra.

"How about _thank you_?" asked Bright.

"Yes. Thank you, your majesty! I'm sorry! I'm just afraid that I might accidentally grant a wish if I'm not careful."

"Quite all right," said the Fairy Queen.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Kendra?" asked Bracken. "Wish for Dominera to no longer be a threat! At least try _something_."

"Hold on," said Kendra, who was trying to sense her own horn. "Something's wrong."

"What's that?" asked the Fairy Queen.

"I don't feel all that more powerful now. It's not like the last time."

"What are you saying?" asked Bright.

"What I'm saying, is that I don't think I'm able to grant a wish like I did before."


	29. Fairy Prime

**Chapter 29: Fairy Prime**

Standing upon a set of four hooves, Kendra was still trying to get used to the fact that her body had been transmogrified into that of a unicorn. However, she was unable to feel the sensation that she had initially experienced when she previously became a unicorn upon being crowned a fairy duchess.

"Kendra, are you all right?" asked Bright. "You look rather... scared."

"It can't be _that_ scary," said Bracken. "Kendra knew exactly what she was getting herself into upon making this request. Her unicorn form probably just still feels alien to her."

"That isn't it," said Kendra. "I'm worried that I'm not the unicorn I used to be."

"Kendra," said the Fairy Queen. "That wish-granting ability you claimed to have used. That's not anything that us fairies, or anyone else for that matter, has any knowledge on."

"But, why would I have the ability back then, and not now? It doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe that wish you did get was a one-time deal," said Bright. "You only got it the very first time you became a unicorn."

"That doesn't make a whole lot of sense," said Bracken.

"None of this seems to make any sense!" blurted Kendra. "I don't feel any of the power I had when I became a unicorn last time!"

"Take a deep breath," said Bright.

Kendra opened her mouth and inhaled some air, then exerted it.

"Maybe you still have the power, and you just don't realize it. Try wishing for something small. Something easy, that won't create any foreseeable consequences."

"Okay," said Kendra. "I'll give it a try."

Kendra closed her eyes. She began to think about what she could wish for. It had to be something that was completely harmless. "I wish for... a flower. I wish that a flower would appear in front of me."

Kendra waited for a moment, but nothing happened. She did not feel any power flowing through her body. Likewise, nothing appeared before her.

"Nothing?" asked Bracken.

Kendra shook her head. "What good did becoming a unicorn accomplish, anyway? Not only can I not grant wishes, but I don't think I've got any special power at all!"

"Now that isn't true," said the Fairy Queen. "Us unicorns are far more powerful than even the other fairy angels. "You must have some power. I bet you're just not used to your new form."

Kendra winced, then began to trot around in a circle, trying to remind herself how she should be walking with four legs. "I don't have time for all this! I need to master my power, and I need to do it now."

"Kendra, you're in a highly unusual situation," said Bright. "Bracken, my sisters and I were all born as unicorns. We didn't even develop these fairy forms of ours until our third horns grew in."

"No offense," said Kendra. "But you guys have had years and years to grow up and mature. Dominera barely gave me any time at all to to develop _my_ powers. What am I going to do?"

"Kendra," said the Fairy Queen. "I know that you're not in a very good mood. But I would like to tell you a story. It's highly important, and I'd like to tell it to you while I still have a chance."

"Seriously?" asked Kendra, as she stumbled around. "I can't even sit down properly with all these legs."

"Let me help you with that," said Bracken, as he held out a hand towards Kendra.

Colorful sparkles flowed out of Braken's hand and flowed around Kendra. Within seconds, Kendra could feel as her body reverted back into its human form, and allowed herself to stand up on her two human legs.

"I appreciate your hospitality," said Kendra, wriggling her fingers that, only moments ago, had been hooves. "But what's with the sudden need to tell me some old story?"

"Kendra, I'm telling you this story, because you remind me of one of the characters in it. "Please, take a seat, won't you? It's not a very long story."

The Fairy Queen waved her hand, and a plush chair appear by Kendra's side. Kendra sat down.

"Thank you. Now, this story takes place a long, long time ago in the mortal world. Human beings had developed a fair bit from the days of neanderthals. But they were still very savage. People hunted creatures constantly, though mostly as a source of food and for their furs."

"This was back in the day when everyone was able to see both magical and non-magical creatures alike. No special ability or magical milk was needed. Everyone was able to see every creature for what it actually was. They were not a secret in the least."

"Now you see, the gentle, weaker, magical creatures still kept their distance from humans. Likewise, humans knew to keep their distance from the stronger, more powerful ones."

"Most humans lived together in communities that came to be known as tribes. In one such tribe, there lived two friends. A girl named Sunel, and a boy named Blay. Both of whom were in their teenage years. Like most other youths their age, Sunel and Blay were being brought up to be just as savage as their elders. It wasn't really their fault. It was simply what society expected out of everyone, and the two of them choosing to abide by such a standard. However, they were still deemed minors, and had yet to go out and hunt on their own."

"One day, Sunel and Blay had gone out for a hike in the woods by themselves. At one point, the two of them heard what sounded like an animal crying, not that far off in the distance. Sunel and Blay went over to investigate what was causing the noise."

"They discovered an injured horse foal lying on the ground. It had been attacked by three wolves, which were in the midst of circling around their latest prey. It was at this point that a feeling came over both Sunel and Blay. It was a feeling of remorse. Although the wolves attacking the foal had in no way been their fault, Sunel and Blay felt compelled into aiding the foal."

"So, what did they do?" asked Kendra.

"Sunel and Blay were not yet fighters, nor did they have any proper weapons on hand," continued the Fairy Queen. "But it was time for them to put their savage skills to use. The wolves had noticed them, but they were not going to forget about the foal, either."

"Acting instinctively, Sunel and Blay grabbed the nearest rocks they could find and began to chuck them at the wolves. The wolves got quite angry, but after taking a few well-aimed shots at their heads, they retreated, leaving the foal alone with Sunel and Blay."

"At this point, Sunel and Blay came to a realization. They could either try and help the injured foal. Or they could finish it off and bring it back to their tribe."

"Finish it off?" asked Kendra. "Why would they do such a thing?"

"Kendra, you need to remember that this was a different time. Sunel and Blay were being groomed to become savage hunters. If the two youths were to bring home the carcass of a horse, even one that was just a foal, they would've been regarded as prodigies by the other members of their tribe."

"For killing a horse?"

"Precisely. Horses were not perceived as domesticated animals way back then. They were viewed as just another form of prey by humans. But to Sunel and Blay, the foal didn't deserve to die at their hands. They had not hunted it. They felt that the foal deserved a second chance."

"So what did they do?" asked Kendra.

"The foal was injured, but she could still walk somewhat. However, she was in no condition to run, meaning that even if she tried to return home, other predators could still attack her. So Sunel and Blay decided that while they might not be able to nurse the foal back to health on their own, the least they could do would be to get her back to her home where she belonged."

"How did they do that?"

"They needed to earn the foal's trust," replied the Fairy Queen. Sunel stayed with the foal and did what she could to make her feel more relaxed, while Blay went off and foraged for grass. By the time Blay returned with some grass, along with the company that Sunel had given her, the foal realized that they in no way posed a threat and began to trust them. Sunel and Blay helped the foal stand up, so that she could begin walking back to her home, with the two of them serving as escorts."

"But what happened next went far beyond anything that Sunel and Blay ever could have anticipated. They assumed that once they returned the foal to her home, that they would be free to leave, and that the whole ordeal would simply remain as their little secret. For if another member of their tribe were to learn that Sunel and Blay had aided an injured foal, as opposed to slaughtering it, they feared that they would forever be shamed for their actions."

"So what _did_ happen?" asked Kendra.

When Sunel and Blay arrived in the field where the other members of the foal's herd lived, the herd was overjoyed to have her returned. But these horses were perceptive. They could tell that the foal was still injured, and were highly wary of the humans. Sunel and Blay felt like they were in a bind. After all, they did not have the resources to heal the foal, nor were they able to properly communicate with the horses."

"What happened to Sunel and Blay?" asked Kendra.

The Fairy Queen smiled. "The foal, along with the other members of the herd, were not ordinary horses. The horses approached Sunel and Blay, but they did not make any attempt to harm them. Instead, what happened next was truly _fantastic_."

"Sunel and Blay began to sense an unusual feeling emanating from all of the horses. A moment later, the two humans realized that their bodies were beginning to transmogrify into _unicorns_."

Kendra shook her head. "That doesn't make sense!"

"It does, actually," said the Fairy Queen. "At first glance, these wild horses did not appear to be anything unusual. But it turns out that they were actually the predecessors of modern day unicorns. And it was their admiration and latent magic that caused Sunel and Blay to become unicorns themselves."

"That still doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And I've seen some pretty bizarre sights ever since I first arrived at Fablehaven."

"Kendra, it's the truth. The wild proto-unicorns could tell that Sunel and Blay were different from other humans, and chose to bestow them with their power, which in turn caused them to transform into unicorns. However, while the proto-unicorns looked no different than normal horses, what happened to Sunel and Blay was still highly unusual."

"Yeah, they turned into unicorns," said Kendra.

"Yes," said the Fairy Queen. "Unicorns as you know them now. Their coats of fur, as well as their manes and tails, sported vibrant hues and colors. A stark contrast from the proto-unicorns that better resembled ordinary horses. And it wasn't just their coloring. Sunel and Blay were also the first unicorns to bear horns."

Kendra winced. "So if the proto-unicorns more or less looked like normal horses, why did Sunel and Blay become unicorns as we know them now?"

"It was a phenomenon. But it's believed to have been caused by the fact that they were initially human. The horns that they sported were symbolic of their savage, human roots. Yet it was also these horns that really made them stand out. But I'm getting ahead of myself."

"So they became unicorns," said Kendra. "The kind that we're all familiar with."

"And that created a problem," said the Fairy Queen. "Although Sunel and Blay had become unicorns, they quickly found that they had no means of turning themselves back into humans. They were unable to work any magic. They tried asking the proto-unicorns for assistance, but didn't understand their language. Stuck in the bodies of unicorns, Sunel and Blay came to realize that they could never go back to their tribe. They had no choice but to live among the proto-unicorns."

"Go on," said Kendra, wanting to hear where the story was leading up to.

"And so they did," continued the Fairy Queen. "But as you're well aware, Kendra, unicorns are essentially immortal. As unicorns, Sunel and Blay lived long, prosperous lives, and got used to the fact that they might never turn back into human beings again. Although they never returned to their tribe, enough time had passed to where it was safe to assume that their families and friends had all passed on. However, in spite of the change in lifestyle, Sunel and Blay were happy."

"As Sunel and Blay lived with the proto-unicorns, several gradual changes began to occur over time. One was that the two of them began to understand what the proto-unicorns were saying, and were able to converse with them. Another change was that the proto-unicorns also began to change their colors, and proceeded to grow horns as well. Another was that they were slowly developing magical powers."

"But it didn't stop there. Eventually, both Sunel and Blay shed their horns at roughly the same time. While they were worried for a while, it didn't take long before aboth of them had grown a new horn where the previous one had been. Slightly longer than their previous horns, this second horn seemingly made Sunel and Blay more powerful. They found that they were both capable of better utilizing magic with their second horns."

"The other unicorns eventually lost their first horns, only for their second ones to grow in as well. And some time after that, Sunel and Blay lost _their_ second horns. But when their third horns grew in, the two of them had become even _more_ powerful. Not only had they mastered their own powers, but they were also able to freely transform into their humanoid forms. But they were different from the humans that they originally were. What they considered to be their human forms were actually fairy forms."

"Worried that they would continued to be targeted by humans and other predators, Sunel and Blay used their newfound power to open a doorway to another dimension. Barren and desolate, Sunel, Blay and the other unicorns used their powers to transform the wasteland into a lush utopia. The Fairy Kingdom. A world where fairies and unicorns could live in peace, away from the harshness of the mortal world."

"As for Sunel and Blay, they found that they were able to do what no other unicorns could, even those with their third horns. They could each create one fairy a day. Because of this unique ability, and because they were the first of their kind. Sunel and Blay came to be known as the Fairy Queen, and the Fairy King."

Kendra smiled. "I had a feeling that this story was headed in that direction. So all this time, you were Sunel, and the Fairy King was Blay?"

"That is correct," replied the Fairy Queen.

"I get it. You and Blay were the first fairies. And it was all possible thanks to the unicorns. The two of you pioneered a whole new species of magical creature, with the help of those other unicorns. That's incredible! But, why are you telling me all of this now?"

"This information is confidential among only fairies. I was going to tell you once you got a little older, but with the trouble that Dominera's been bringing up, I'm not sure if I'd ever get another opportunity to do so."

"You don't think I can win this?" asked Kendra.

"I don't know," replied the Fairy Queen, shaking her head. "But I wanted you to know about my history. How I came to be."

"But why?"

The Fairy Queen took a deep breath. "Kendra, when I look at you, I see myself. Back when I was plain old Sunel. Back before I became Sylvia, Queen of the Fairies. You possess so many of the same qualities that I did. You're kind. You're smart. You don't give up, even when you don't think you'll succeed. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to allow you to become my handmaiden."

"Your honor," said Kendra, who felt like she could barely muster up the strength to speak. "I'm speechless!"

"Not to change the subject or anything," said Bright, "but we've still got the pressing matter of Dominera to attend to. And we're on a time limit!"

"This hasn't been a waste," said Kendra. "I did get to become a unicorn again. There has to be _some_ merit to that."

"Agreed," said Bracken. "And while I do believe that mother's story may have made Kendra feel more confident about herself, we still haven't given very much thought to her presence as a unicorn."

"What about it?" asked Kendra. "I don't even have the ability to grant wishes anymore!"

"Well, no," said Bright. "But the rest of us unicorns were never able to grant wishes. And we're not upset."

"Exactly," said Bracken. "While it's unfortunate that we can't figure out how you managed to grant yourself a wish beforehand, it doesn't mean you should admit defeat. We need to focus on what you _can_ do, rather than what you can't."

"Like what?" asked Kendra.

"I'm not entirely sure," said the Fairy Queen. "But I did analyze you just now. And from what I can tell, you are indeed more powerful in your unicorn form, than you are as a human."

"That's good to know. But how do I even change into my unicorn form? Or back again? I still only have my first horn."

"We can help you with that," said Bright. "But right now, we need to go back to the mortal world. Somehow, we've got to apply your power in such a way that will enable you to overcome Dominera. With you as a unicorn, we might have an edge. I just wish we knew how to utilize it."

"I just hope that this _edge_ actually exists," said Kendra.


	30. The All-Powerful Unicorn?

**Chapter 30: The All-Powerful Unicorn?**

Kendra opened up her eyes and saw that she was now back at Fablehaven. She was currently standing in the middle of Fairy Queen's island in the center of the naiads' pond, with one hand still placed upon the statuette of the Fairy Queen herself.

"Kendra, do you feel okay?" asked Bracken, as he and Bright both removed their hands from the statuette of their mother.

Kendra proceeded to breathe heavily. "My nerves are shot. I honestly don't know if I stand a chance against Dominera. I just became a unicorn... again. And I have literally no idea what I'm doing."

"Let's at least go back to the house so that we can tell everyone that you're a unicorn once again."

"Yeah, except I can't grant wishes. And I don't even know how to put my powers to any use at all."

"Well, if you need help understanding unicorns, you've got two veterans standing right here," said Bracken. "We'll help you adjust."

"I don't have much time!" exclaimed Kendra, as she proceeded to step onto the rainbow bridge that arced over the water of the pond. "Dominera only gave me hours! And the Fairy Queen made it sound like adjusting to her unicorn form was a gradual process."

"It wasn't easy for her," said Bright, as she and Bracken followed Kendra across the bridge. "But everything was a new experience for her and father. They had no precedent to follow. At least now we have a proper understanding of unicorns, and of two mortal humans who became them."

Kendra sighed. "I just hope that it's enough."

After reaching the other side of the bridge, Kendra, Bracken and Bright traveled away from the naiads' pond and proceeded onto a pathway that led them through the woods and eventually to the main house. Only seconds after the three of them had entered the house did essentially every other member of Kendra's family suddenly gather around them in the foyer.

"Kendra," said Grandpa, as he set his hands down upon his granddaughter's shoulders, "what happened?"

"Are you all right?" asked Grandma. "Did everything work out?"

Kendra winced, then shook her head. "Well... yes and no. You see, the Fairy Queen _did_ technically allow me to become a unicorn again."

"Kendra, that's great!" exclaimed Mr. Sorenson.

Kendra sighed. "It's _not_ so great. I became a unicorn again, sure. But as a unicorn, I wasn't able to grant myself a wish. And I don't have any idea as to how I can use my powers. I just felt big and awkward. I don't know what to do!"

"I don't know what to say..." said Warren. "I'm glad you were able to become a unicorn again. But it's not going to do us much good if you don't know how to utilize it."

"We're going to help her," said Bracken. "Or at the very least, try."

"What do you mean _try_?" asked Seth.

"We're going to try and teach Kendra how she should adapt to her new form," said Bright. "Only, I'm not entirely sure how. All the unicorns we've known never needed help with this sort of thing. Being a unicorn came naturally to the rest of us."

"You'd think I'd be a natural at this," said Kendra. "I'm already fairykind. Why is being a unicorn giving me so much trouble?"

"I can't say," said Bracken. "But we're a completely different species from humans. Applying human behavior and instinct towards being a unicorn might not be the best approach."

"Well you'd better find a way to make it work, and soon," said Grandpa, as he glanced at his watch. "You don't have all that much time to figure this out _and_ make it to the meeting point."

"This whole fight with Dominera is stupid," said Grandma. "Kendra, you shouldn't go through with this if you can't stand up to her. You're going to get yourself killed!"

"But if I don't show up, Dominera and her pack are going to attack Crossroad Pass! It's better I go than the whole town."

"You think Dominera's going to stop there?" asked Warren. "Kendra, if she beats you, what's going to stop her from trying to carry out some other crazy plan? You may have gotten rid of the milk that she had at that meeting, but Dominera might still have more of Viola's milk sitting around somewhere."

"And what if Dominera goes around exposing the wrong sort of people to this milk?" asked Ingrid. "Like politicians, or capitalists?"

"Or if Dominera gets her claws on another milch cow?" asked Dale.

"Then that's it," said Kendra. "I _need_ to master control of my unicorn form. I've got to stand up to Dominera and put an end to all this trouble that she's been causing us."

"Okay then," said Bracken. "Kendra, if we're going to try this, we'd better get started right away. Let's go back outside."

"Okay," said Kendra, as she turned back towards the front door and stepped back out onto the porch, followed by Bracken and Bright.

"What about us?" asked Seth, as he approached the front door, along with the rest of the family.

"I think it might be best if the rest of you gave Kendra some space," said Bright. "She's under enough stress and tension as it is."

Bright closed the door behind herself, then joined Kendra and Bracken as they walked past the garden and into the center of the front yard.

"Kendra, is it true?" asked Stargleam, who came dashing up from the side of the house.

"What's going on?" asked Kendra.

"I telepathically summoned Stargleam here to join us," said Bracken. "And yes Stargleam, it's true. Kendra is a unicorn once again. But she needs our help. She doesn't know how to utilize her abilities as a unicorn."

"That's incredible that you're a unicorn again, Kendra," said Stargleam, as she advanced her head towards Kendra and gently prodded her body with her horn. "But you don't seem any different than you usually do to me."

"Kendra only has her first horn," said Bright. "Without our help, she's unable to shift between her human and unicorn forms."

"We might as well get started, then," said Bright.

Bright's hands began to glow, and the fairy angel proceeded to exert her rainbow energy upon Kendra. Within seconds, Kendra experienced as the figure of her body began to twist and bend. She fell down onto hands, while her fingers melted into hooves. Her horn shot out of her forehead, while her mane and tail sprouted from her neck and rear. Within seconds, Kendra was back to being a unicorn once again.

"It's always reassuring to see another unicorn," said Stargleam, nodding with a suggestion of approval. "You look incredible, Kendra."

Working to keep her balance whilst standing upon four legs, Kendra could feel butterflies swarming furiously from within her stomach.

"So, how does this work, exactly?" asked Kendra.

"Let's start off with something simple," said Bracken, as he and Bright proceeded to transform into their own unicorn forms.

"Right then," said Stargleam. "As a unicorn, your horn is your most crucial part of your body, along with your brain and heart. Your horn is the key to your power."

"I understand that," said Kendra. "So how do I put it to use?"

Bracken winced. "How should I put this? Try to envision your horn as a third hand."

"Okay," said Kendra, as she squinted her eyes shut. She focused on her horn, but could not feel anything.

"Maybe hand isn't the best analogy for this," said Bright. "Your horn is immobile. But your brain still needs to focus on it like it would when you want to use a hand."

"But how am I supposed to use it?" asked Kendra. "I can move my arms around freely. I've been doing that all my life. This horn isn't a limb. It's just an external bone with no mobility."

"Kendra, don't worry about any of that," said Stargleam. "Try to focus."

"I know what your horns are capable of. I just don't know how to use my own. You three are all unicorns, how did you learn how to use your horns?"

"Kendra, a unicorn getting a basic grasp of their own horn is instinctive," said Bracken. "It's like learning how to walk. It just happens naturally."

"It takes _months_ for a baby to learn how to walk. How's this situation any better?"

"Well, you're not a baby," said Bright. "So maybe your developed brain will be able to catch on a little faster."

Kendra sighed. "I hope so."

"Let's start this off nice and simple," said Bracken. "Kendra, when you're fairyprime, you've been able to channel magic through your hands. As you unicorn, you should have some similar energy coursing through your body. Try and focus that energy into your horn."

"I already tried that," said Kendra.

"Try it again," said Stargleam. "Focus on directing energy into your horn."

Kendra closed her eyes again and began trying to direct energy into her horn. She envisioned her horn becoming more powerful, but nothing seemed to be happening.

"It's no use!" muttered Kendra. "I still feel nothing! I'm sure if I'd grown a third arm, I could figure out how to use it before too long."

"That may be the problem," said Bright. "A horn is not an arm. A horn is its own thing."

"Going back to what you said about walking," said Bracken. "What we're doing feels like the equivalent of giving dancing lessons to a baby who cannot yet stand up."

"Great," said Kendra. "Thanks for the analogy."

"Kendra, we're sorry!" exclaimed Stargleam. "But this is a very unusual situation! Unicorns develop humanoid fairy forms when their third horn grows in. What we're going through with you is being done the other way around. I still don't have my third horn yet, so becoming humanoid is going to be a strange experience for myself when the time comes."

"I could feel power flowing through my horn back when I was a unicorn the first time," said Kendra. "When I granted my wish. Why am I not feeling anything in my horn now?"

"We don't know," replied Bracken. "But the most plausible theory we can come up with is that it had something to do with mother crowning you a duchess. That action may have sparked an influx of power into your horn. But it's gone now, and we don't have any way of replicating it."

"I've got an idea," said Bright. "Kendra, I'm going to channel some of my own energy into your horn. Not a lot. Maybe just enough for you to get a feel as to what you should be aiming for."

"Is that a good idea?" asked Kendra.

"It could be," said Bracken. "Maybe things will be easier if we can show you the finish line. After all, a baby can always use some help in learning how to walk."

"This won't hurt you," said Bright. "Okay. Here it comes."

Kendra watched as Bright's horn began to glow in a rainbow of colors. Wishing that she was able to do the same, Kendra waited as a beam of energy came spiraling out of Bright's horn and into the horn protruding from her own forehead. Kendra could now at least feel like power was flowing throughout her own horn.

"That's good," said Bright, as her horn stopped glowing.

"I think it worked!" stated Kendra. "I can feel energy flowing through my horn."

"Good," said Stargleam. "But that was to be expected. What you need to do now is to channel this energy from Bright, and eventually find a way to conjure up your own energy without outside help."

"I sort of get it. But what exactly should I be doing with this energy?"

"Let's try something," said Bracken, as he aimed his horn down at the ground. A small burst of light shot out of his horn and hit the ground. Once the beam had faded, Kendra could see that there was a small rock now, no larger than a baseball, resting upon the grass.

"I could've used the Emerock to produce something like that," said Kendra.

"Conjuring up something might've been a little too advanced for you right now. But this isn't about that. I want you to use your own horn to alter the rock in some way."

"Alter the rock? How?"

"Do whatever you want. Make it larger. Change the color of it. Twist its shape. Or transform it into something else entirely. But that last one might be pretty difficult. If nothing else, try to keep it simple."

"Well, I've used magic before," said Kendra, as she bent her head down towards the rock and studied it. It appeared to be just a plain-looking rock, with no extraordinary features. "I guess this is the same idea, only I need to use my horn."

"Pretty well," said Stargleam. "Aim your horn at the rock, think about changing it in some way, and allow your power to flow into it."

"Understood. Just give me a moment to think."

Kendra stared at the rock for a moment. It was grey, and Bracken had suggested that she might be able to change the color of it. She had done something akin to that before, back when she had used her fairyprime power to turn Murdred pink. That had been easy for Kendra. This had to be similar, did it not? The answer felt obvious. Why not make the rock turn pink?

With her horn aimed directly at the rock, Kendra kept her line of sight fixated directly upon the rock. She thought about the color pink, and envisioned the rock itself being pink.

Suddenly, Kendra experienced a powerful sensation as a small burst of energy shot out of her horn and went flying into the rock.

"Not bad," said Stargleam, as the beam of colorful light quickly faded away.

"You did it!" exclaimed Bright.

"Wait," said Bracken, looking down at the rock. "What was it that Kendra did?"

Kendra glanced down at the rock. It didn't appear to have changed in any noticeable way.

"Did it not work?" asked Kendra.

"Wait," said Bright. "I think Kendra did _something_."

Bright titled her head down and pushed her horn up against the rock, rolling it over onto another side. Kendra could now see that there was a feint blue dot situated upon one part of the rock.

Kendra couldn't think of anything to say. All she could do was sigh.

"That's not too bad, for a first try," said Bracken.

"That wasn't really what I was trying to do," said Kendra. "I wasn't trying to make a blue dot appear. I was trying to turn the entire rock pink."

Stargleam snorted. "You know, I think you went about this the wrong way."

"I'll say," said Bracken. "Kendra, I don't even know how you arrived at this point, if your intent was to turn the rock pink."

"Kendra must not have proper control over her own power," said Bright. "But to end up with another color entirely? That's unusual. It's like Kendra's gotten her own signals crossed."

"Maybe I'm just not good at this sort of thing," said Kendra. "Like how a dyslexic person has trouble with reading. It's harder for me than it is for the rest of you."

"We don't know for sure," said Bracken. "Maybe you just need more practice. Try turning the rock pink again."

Kendra went ahead and focused on the rock a second time. She proceeded to exert more magic from her horn at it. However, the rock still did not appear to have changed much. Bright soon discovered that the rock now sported a yellow dot, in addition to the blue one.

"This isn't working!" groaned Kendra. "Not only can I not change the entire rock, but I can't even get the stupid color right!"

"Keep at it," said Stargleam. "Practice makes perfect, does it not?"

Kendra continued her attempt to properly turn the rock pink. But over the course of countless attempts, she seemingly managed to do anything but. After a fair number of attempts, Kendra's horn had run out of energy, requiring one of the other unicorns to replenish it with some of their own power.

By the time she had given up, Kendra had managed to cover nearly every square inch of the rock with some colorful splotches, lines, and other indescribable markings. Admittedly, the rock _did l_ ook pretty spectacular, but it was a far cry from having turned the entire thing pink in one attempt.

"This is just great," groaned Kendra, as she looked over towards the house and could see Seth, Ingrid and Warren all walking towards her. "I'm a spectacular failure as a unicorn. I haven't made any progress."

"Don't be upset," said Bracken. "Practice makes perfect."

"I'm afraid there isn't time for that," said Warren, shaking his head as he and the others approached Kendra. "You've been out here for a while. It's almost time to meet up with Dominera."

"I don't think I'm ready," said Kendra, shaking her head. "See that rock down there? I couldn't even get it to turn pink properly."

"It looks pretty cool, though," said Ingrid, eyeing the rock for herself.

"Yeah, but it's far from what I was aiming for. I just wasted all this time trying. And for what?"

"If Kendra needs more time, why don't we use the Chronometer to travel back in time to somewhere safe, so she has more time to practice?"

"I don't know," replied Warren. "If Kendra eventually manages to master reality-warping magic, she might accidentally cause a paradox if she's not careful."

"Kendra," said Seth, "is everything going to be okay?"

"I don't know," replied Kendra, who could now suddenly feel as energy started to build up within her horn. "Hold on, something's going on with my horn!"

"Your horn?" asked Stargleam. "What about it?"

"It... it feels powerful!"

"But we haven't done anything to recharge it!" said Bracken. "Let me check this out."

Bracken went ahead and pressed one side of his own horn against Kendra's.

"What do you feel, Bracken?" asked Bright.

Bracken suddenly jerked himself away from Kendra, then took a good look at Seth.

"What?" asked Seth.

"Angelic energy!" said Bracken. "Kendra, you now have both fairy energy _and_ angelic energy flowing through your horn!"

"How is that possible?" asked Kendra. "Seth hasn't done anything! He isn't even an angel right now!"

"It must be Seth's own presence, then!" said Stargleam. "Somehow, you're able to absorb his inner angel power. This is his first time being around your unicorn form since you got back."

"But it's not the first time I've been with Kendra when she _was_ a unicorn," said Seth. "I was there back when she first became one, but only for a brief moment until she wished it away."

"You don't suppose..." began Ingrid, "that with Seth's assistance, Kendra might be capable of granting wishes?"

Everyone in the group turned their heads towards Kendra.


	31. Potential

**Chapter 31: Potential**

Still trying to get used to the feeling of standing up upon a set of four unicorn legs, Ingrid's latest remark had filled Kendra's mind with a feeling consisting of both hope and uncertainty.

"This can't be possible," said Kendra. "I mean, how does this even make a lick of sense? Being able to grant wishes just because Seth happens to be nearby?"

"I don't understand it much either," said Bracken. "But angels _are_ capable of feats that us fairies cannot replicate."

"Well, it _is_ the only plausible theory we have to go on," said Bright.

"How can we be sure about this?" asked Ingrid.

Warren took in a deep breath. "Guess there's only one way to be certain. Kendra, try making a wish. But wish for something small, and not something that can alter life as we know it."

"Okay, I'll try," said Kendra, as she looked down at the colorful rock that was still nestled in the grass in front of her. "Here goes. "I wish that this rock would turn pink."

Kendra felt as the power that was flowing through her horn suddenly became more intense. It immediately reminded her of the same moment back when she had wished to become normal right after her initial unicorn transformation.

The rock suddenly emitted a bright flash of light. As the flash vanished, Kendra felt as the power flowing through her horn softened down. However, the rock was now completely pink. Kendra stared at it in awe.

"It worked," said Ingrid, who appeared to be just as stunned as Kendra.

"No way," said Seth. "Did one of you other unicorns..."

"It wasn't us," said Stargleam. "Kendra must've done this all on her own."

"Kendra," said Bracken, "how do you feel?"

"I feel... fine," replied Kendra. "It was like the wish didn't take anything out of me."

"This is... awesome!" blurted Seth. "Kendra can grant wishes! Except, it's with my help, right?"

"Hold on a minute!" exclaimed Ingrid. "Does turning the rock pink really count as a _wish_? How do we know that Kendra just isn't more capable with her power, and knows what she's doing?"

"Maybe Kendra should give another wish a try," said Stargleam. "Something a bit more random, but nothing too extravagant."

"Or dangerous," said Warren.

"Okay," said Kendra. "Let me try something a little more out there. I wish for a penguin statue, made out of chocolate, but green in color, to appear in front of me."

Kendra could feel her horn glowing again. A flash of green light immediately appeared in front of her. When the flash vanished, there was now a five-foot statue of lime green penguin standing in the same spot. Unnatural coloration aside, the statue appeared to be highly detailed, right down to the texture of its feathers.

"Whoa," said Bracken. "That is _something_."

Warren went ahead and broke a piece of the beak off of the statue, then popped it into his mouth. "It's chocolate, all right. _Good_ chocolate!"

"This is incredible!" exclaimed Bright. "If Kendra can wish for this, who knows what her full potential is?"

"Okay, okay!" gushed Kendra. "I know exactly what to wish for now! I wish that Dominera would-"

"Careful, Kendra," said Bracken. "We wouldn't want you to do anything drastic. It's not in the nature of a unicorn to intentionally attack another other party if not first provoked."

"We've been provoked by Dominera _plenty_ ," said Seth. "How would a wish against her be considered the first move?"

"As it stands right now, Kendra is in no immediate danger," said Bright. "Right now, Dominera can't hurt us. She's a threat, no denying that. But she isn't a _direct_ threat."

"No need to get all technical," huffed Seth.

"Let me just try something anyway," said Kendra. "I wish that Dominera would... leave all of us alone."

There was a pause. However, nothing seemed to happen. Kendra could not feel anything going on within her horn.

"Well, did it work?" asked Ingrid. "Your horn didn't glow or anything."

"I don't know," said Kendra. "It didn't feel like anything had happened. But at least with my other wishes, I knew that something was happening when I made them."

"Kendra, you've made three wishes in all," said Warren. "Two today, plus your wish to become normal normal the other day."

"She's not a genie," said Stargleam. "Although that theory may explain why Kendra's fourth wish didn't work."

"But I still feel power flowing through my horn," said Kendra. "It just didn't go anywhere when I attempted to make my wish."

"I have a hunch," said Bracken. "Try wishing for something on a smaller scale again."

"Okay" said Kendra, nodding her head. "I wish that... an apple the size of a beach ball would appear in front of me."

This time, Kendra could feel energy surging through her horn, followed by a flash of colorful light. Once it faded, a glossy, red, near-spherical object could be seen on the ground in front of where Kendra was standing. From what she could tell, it seemed to be an apple, only it was around the same size that a beach ball typically was.

"You feel any different, Kendra?" asked Bright.

Kendra shook her head. "That wish didn't take anything out of me. I can keep going."

"But that wish against Dominera still failed..." said Ingrid. "Why's that?"

"I don't know," replied Bracken. "And I don't know if there's a soul alive that knows for sure why that is. But an educated guess would be that there is some sort of limitation as to what you're able to wish for. Unfortunately, this seems to require further testing, and we don't exactly have the time for that."

"He's not kidding," said Warren. "We don't have much time left to get to Dominera's meeting point."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" exclaimed Kendra. "Time out! I tried to make a wish against Dominera, and it didn't work. What am I supposed to do when I'm actually up against the real Dominera in person?"

"I don't know," replied Bracken, shaking his head. "Hopefully, you can find a way to indirectly use your power against Dominera."

"Because if I can't, things are going to get a whole lot worse."

"Why don't we change the subject?" asked Seth, worried that his sister was about to feel more upset. "So where do we go from here?"

"Maybe I could just wish us to the meeting point?" asked Kendra.

"Better not," said Bracken. "No offense Kendra, but given the uncertainty of your powers, coupled with the vastness of the Grand Canyon... I don't like those odds."

"Stan and I have already worked out a game plan," said Warren. "We're going to travel to Los Angeles and meet up with Tanu. From there, we'll fly over to the meeting spot in the Grand Canyon. We've calculated the time it should take. And if we're to make it, then we need to get going very soon."

"But if I'm going to go through with this, then I'm going to need a proper grasp of my powers, right?" asked Kendra. "Otherwise, Dominera will destroy me out there."

"Kendra, nobody here is forcing you to go through with this if you don't want to," said Bracken.

"I know. But if I'm a no-show at this confrontation, innocent people are going to get killed. And that's just the beginning. I have to try."

"Very well," said Warren. "I admire your courage. I'm going to go find Clover and the dragons now. We might as well get this show on the road."

"Come on," said Bright, as she proceeded to transform into her human form, along with Bracken, "let's get you back into a human for now."

Bright waved a hand towards Kendra. A rainbow of sparkles flew out of Bright's hand and surrounded Kendra, causing her to experience a tingly feeling as her body shifted back into her human form. Kendra felt relieved to be standing back on two feet again.

"Some unicorn I am. I can't even shift back and forth between my human and unicorn forms without help."

"You haven't developed your third horn," said Stargleam. "Take it easy."

"But why should I even have all this power?" asked Kendra. "Clearly I'm not ready for it. Why couldn't it have fallen to the Fairy Queen, or her children? They're already incredible unicorns with plenty of experience."

"Kendra, I don't think we can provide a proper answer to that question," said Bright, biting her lower lip.

"You're the Fairy Queen's handmaiden," said Bracken. "As well as a duchess. You're the first of your kind. You have no precedent to follow, so none of us really know what to expect."

"You handled some of those wishes pretty well," said Seth. "Maybe there's a way to use that power against Dominera, so long as she's nearby."

"That's what worries me," said Kendra, as the dragons flew over towards the group and landed nearby. Warren and Clover proceeded to climb down off of Firesquall and Skyfrost respectively.

"Guess we'd better get going," said Geminus.

"I've got everybody's gear," said Clover, raising up several traveling bags in her hands.

"Let's do this, then," said Warren, as he pulled the Translocator out of his bag and twisted it, then held it out in front of himself. "Next stop, Tanu's condo in L.A."

Watching as everyone else around her went ahead and touched the Translocator, Kendra hesitantly moved her own hand towards the artifact, and was the last one to make contact with it.

Warren went ahead and twisted the Translocator. In a flash, the surrounding yard of Fablehaven faded out of sight, only to be replaced by a much smaller, partially-enclosed area. Unlike the yard, there was barely any room for everyone to stand in this new location.

It didn't take very long for either Kendra or Seth to recognize where they now were. The group was now standing upon the balcony of Tanu's condominium in Los Angeles. However, with a group of seven people and four dragons, nearly every square inch of the moderately-sized balcony was now occupied.

"It's a bit cramped!" noted Ingrid.

"Sorry!" exclaimed Raxtus, as he immediately shrunk down to his fairy form, along with Geminus. With the two fairy dragons at their reduced sizes, it freed up a considerable bit of room upon the balcony.

"One more dragon, and this balcony would collapsed under all this weight!" said Clover.

"One more dragon wouldn't fit," muttered Seth.

Warren turned towards the sliding glass door that led into Tanu's living room and rapped his hand upon the glass. A few seconds later, Tanu walked into the living room and over towards the door, which he opened up.

"Great to see you all again," said Tanu, who didn't seem to take his eyes off of Kendra. "I've heard that you've had quite the experience these past few days. Please, come in."

"I don't think we can stay long," said Bracken, as everyone except for the wyverns followed Tanu into his condominium. "We don't have much time before we're due at the meeting point."

"Tanu, do you have any sort of potion that can help us?"

"I'm not sure. I'm unfamiliar with Kendra's abilities, nor do I know what Dominera is truly capable of."

"Is there anything that you _can_ recommend?" asked Ingrid.

"Not by default," replied Tanu. "I'm just as clueless about Dominera as the rest of you. However, I do have the most field experience out of all of us. It may not prove to be beneficial in the long run, but it may come in handy if I get an idea along the way."

"In other words, we're just going to have to wing it," said Clover.

"There's one thing I don't get," said Seth. "Just how exactly are all of us going to help Kendra? Dominera wants to take her on one-on-one."

"Moral support," said Warren. "Dominera may have taken issue with Kendra, but there's no reason the rest of us can't come."

"But what about the rest of Dominera's pack?" asked Geminus. "I'm sure they'll be there. It feels like we're knowingly walking into a trap."

"We'll just have to be prepared," said Kendra. "Especially me."

Warren glanced at his watch. "Sorry to interrupt, but we've really gotta get moving."

"Okay, then," said Bright. "We'll see the rest of you there."

Bright proceeded to vanish, immediately followed by Clover and Bracken.

"There's no time to waste," said Warren, as he went back onto the balcony and clambered up onto Firesquall's backside. "Tanu, you can ride with me on Firesquall."

"It's been a while since I have ridden upon a dragon," said Tanu. "But never a speedy wyvern."

Once Tanu had seated himself behind Warren, Firesquall leaped off of the balcony and flew up towards the sky.

"I might as well go next," said Seth, as he got up onto Skyfrost. Skyfrost immediately shot up into the air and met up with Firesquall, who was circling around far above the neighborhood's tallest highrises.

"Our turn," said Geminus, as she grew back into her dragon form. With the balcony far less crowded, Ingrid climbed up onto her back, and the two of them flew off after the wyverns.

"That just leaves us," said Raxtus upon regaining his own dragon form.

"Great..." said Kendra, as she cautiously climbed up onto Raxtus' back. In her mind, she was dreading the fact that when she had to climb back down off of the fairy dragon meant that she would be up against Dominera before long.

Raxtus then spread his wings and flew up above the surrounding buildings, where the other three dragons had gathered. Kendra looked down at the city, which was currently several hundred feet beneath where they were currently floating around.

As it seemed, the township of Crossroad Pass was insignificantly tiny compared to the metropolis of Los Angeles. However, Kendra still felt concerned. As vast as a city like Los Angeles was, it was just as vulnerable to an attack from Dominera and her pack as a much smaller town was. If Dominera were to attack, who exactly could stand up to her?

"Where to now?" asked Geminus.

"Northeast, for now," said Warren, as he flashed his tablet in front of Firesquall's face, with a map currently displayed on the screen. "We're heading to somewhere in the western half of the Grand Canyon. Firesquall's gonna lead the way."

Without any hesitation, Firesquall proceeded to fly off in one direction, which Kendra and Seth could only assume was northeast given the wyvern's immediate departure into the distance.

Skyfrost, Raxtus and Geminus all closely followed behind Firesquall as he proceeded to fly across the sky. Kendra looked down at Los Angeles. While the heights of all the countless rooftops were completely inconsistent, all of the streets were several hundred feet beneath her.

However, as the dragons advanced over the city, the heights of the buildings gradually decreased, going from highrises, down to low-rise commercial buildings, and before too long, houses.

Soon the suburbs had faded away. The dragons had now left Los Angeles, and were flying high above the countryside. They passed over numerous hills, forests and even a few mountains. At one point, Warren had noted that they had crossed over into Arizona.

For the duration of the ride, it was mostly fairly quiet. Not that anyone could be blamed. Kendra was undertaking a huge gambit, hoping that she could somehow put her power to actual use against Dominera. But Kendra was worried. What if she was unable to pull it off? What would happen then? Sure, Dominera would be victorious. But where would she go from there? And if Kendra lacked the power to stop Dominera, who _could_?

Seth too also pondered over the same concerns as Kendra. Although he was not the one in the hot seat, he felt equally as worried. After all, Kendra was relying on _his_ angelic energy to boost her own power. But what if it wouldn't prove to be sufficient enough?

Why were they taking such a huge risk? Why could they not return to the Singing Sisters? Seth was starting to have second doubts over being so eager to use his free favor so that they could locate the Fairy Queen. True, they _did_ provide the means to save the monarch from perpetual banishment. But at the same time, this now deprived Seth of being able to use his favor over something even more potentially life-threatening. Like now.

Should Seth have just returned to the Singing Sisters anyway? As beneficial as they had been, their favors typically came at a very steep price, meaning that their demand could've been _worse_ than what Dominera might end up doing. But the Singing Sisters were not in there here and now.

Some time later, Kendra and Seth were able to see the red cliffs of the Grand Canyon ahead of them in the distance. Now that they were here in person, they were able to see just how _vast_ it truly was.

"Wow!" exclaimed Ingrid. "It's huge!"

"It may be grounded, but this place puts Cloud Canyon to shame," said Skyfrost.

The canyon was rocky and mountainous, as Kendra and Seth had expected it to be. However, they did not realize just how long it truly was. As far as Seth was concerned, when they said the canyon was _grand_ , they _meant_ it, as it extended far beyond the horizon.

"Not much longer now," said Warren.

"It's too bad that we've got to deal with Dominera," said Geminus. "I'd love to just soar through this place at my leisure."

"Another time, perhaps," said Tanu.

"There's not going to be another time if this goes horribly wrong," said Kendra.

"Kendra, please don't give in now," said Raxtus. "We're counting on you."

Kendra said nothing.

The dragons continued across the canyon a fair bit, before finally landing upon a large butte situated between two walls.

"This is it," said Warren," as he got down off of Firesquall. "Is everyone ready?"

"No!" said Kendra, shaking her head in distraught. "I'm really scared."

"Me too," said Seth. "My legs feel like jelly."

At that moment, Bracken, Bright and Clover appeared.

"I don't blame you two for being scared," said Tanu. "I'm scared too. But just remember; Kendra and Seth, you are two bravest people I know. We'll be here for you."

"All of us," said Bright.

"Thank you," said Kendra, as she gave Tanu a hug. The others all joined in on the hugging, causing it to grow into a group hug.


	32. Domination

**Chapter 32: Domination**

Kendra glanced down at her watch. According to the time that was displayed, the group had arrived at the arranged meetup location precisely on time.

"We're not late, are we?" asked Kendra, looking up at the other members of her party.

"Maybe we're the ones who're early?" asked Ingrid.

"This butte is the place, right?" asked Tanu.

"It must be," said Warren, as he scanned his tablet. "Firesquall followed the directions to a T."

"Didn't you say those three-headed dragons wrote up these directions on the spot?" asked Skyfrost. "How precise could they possibly be?"

"Very precise," said a loud, booming voice that seemingly came from up above.

Everyone looked up in the sky and could see Dominera, along with all the other members of her pack, looming roughly one-hundred feet in the air above the group.

Seth and Kendra both froze, as they gazed up at all the dragons that were presently looking down at them. They were absolutely terrified, and could tell that the other members of their group undoubtedly all felt the same way.

"I'm so glad you decided to show up," said Dominera. "And you were a little early, even. Fearless and punctual. Some members of my pack believed that you weren't going come at all."

Dominera then dropped down from the air, landing upon the butte with a riveting thump that caused a minor tremor. Standing upright, she craned her head down towards Kendra.

"Well, Kendra," said Dominera. "Are you ready?"

Kendra didn't know what to say. She needed time to assume her fairyprime form, while Seth had to produce his angel wings.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Jallun, still floating above with the rest of the pack. "Kill her!"

"Calm down," said Woxull. "Dominera wants to go up against Kendra's enhanced form. Not her weakling human form."

"Yeah, what's the point of going through so much trouble just to crush one ordinary human?" asked Maelstrom.

"I see more like eight humans down there," said Zojj. "But aren't some of them fairies?"

"I'm only interested in Kendra," said Dominera. "I'll worry about the others only after I'm through with her."

"What are you going to do?" asked Tanu, fear trembling from his mouth as he spoke.

"I'm going to challenge Kendra. Right here. Right now."

"Wait!" exclaimed Kendra. "I'm not ready!"

"Well, that's too bad," said Dominera. "The rest of you must vacate the platform. You are free to watch, but don't interfere!"

Dominera clapped her claws together. Suddenly, there was a momentary flash of purple light. Once it faded, Kendra saw that every other member of her group had seemingly disappeared.

As the flash of purple light faded, Seth could see that he was now standing in a completely new position, almost as though he had been hurled through space by way of the Translocator. He saw that he, along with the other members of his group, were now standing on one edge of the canyon.

Straight ahead, in the center of the canyon, Seth could see the butte that Kendra and Dominera were still standing on. Compared to the dragon queen who was towering over her, Kendra appeared to be tiny.

Another thing that Seth noticed was that all the other members of Dominera's pack were no longer floating above the canyon. Rather, all of them were now standing on the other side of the canyon, directly across from Seth's group.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Kendra, who couldn't understand what had happened to all of her allies. "Where'd everybody go? What'd you do to them?"

"Relax," said Dominera. "They haven't gone far. Take a look around."

Feeling extremely wary, Kendra looked over to one side, where she could see all the other members of Dominera's pack standing on one edge of the canyon. Looking across to the other side, she was able to see her teammates, much smaller in contrast to their adversaries, staring down at her.

"What are they doing over there?" asked Kendra, pointing towards her allies as she looked back up at Dominera.

"This challenge is strictly between me and you," said Dominera.

"Just us!?" gasped Kendra.

"That's not fair!" blared Bracken, as the rest of his group muttered in agreement with with him.

"I thought I made it quite clear that this duel would be between Kendra and myself. It's not my fault if any of you misjudged the odds."

"We've got to get Kendra out of there!" blurted Clover. She extended her wings outward and proceeded to walk straight towards the edge of the cliff. However, just before Clover could set one foot over the edge, she came to a complete stop and shouted, as though she had hit some sort of invisible wall.

"Clover!" gasped Warren. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," responded Clover, taking a deep breath. "But there's some kind of magical barrier that's blocking me. Dominera doesn't want us to be able to reach Kendra!"

"Can you teleport Kendra out of there?" asked Seth.

"Maybe with the Translocator," said Tanu. "But it's too dangerous to attempt such a thing with Dominera right there."

"Go ahead," said Dominera, leering down towards Kendra. "Make your first move. Do something."

Kendra hesitated. The only thing tools she had on hand, other than Vasilis, was the Emerock. The sword wouldn't have any exceptional power against against Dominera, so that just left the relic as Kendra's only line of defense.

Kendra reached into her bag and felt around for the Emerock. Looking upward, Dominera just appeared to be standing still before her. It was obvious to Kendra why Dominera was doing this, as opposed to actually doing something; she knew that Kendra didn't have a prayer of defeating her. And unless she could get her unicorn powers to work properly, Kendra had no choice but to rely on the Emerock.

Grasping the Emerock within her hand, Kendra removed it from her bag and aimed it towards the ground. Within seconds, rocks suddenly jutted out of ground and began prodding themselves against Dominera's talons.

"How peculiar," said Dominera, as she lifted one talon up into the air and brought it crashing down into several of the rocks at once, immediately causing them to crumble.

Kendra continued to conjure up more jagged rocks, which grew to sizes larger than herself. However, due to her sheer size, Dominera was capable of destroying the rocks before they could grow large enough to pose a threat to her.

"Quit wasting time," said Dominera. Her eyes emitted another purple flash. Kendra then discovered that the Emerock had inexplicably vanished from her hand.

"Looking for _this_?" asked Dominera. Kendra looked up at the dragon and could see the Emerock hovering in the air, roughly twenty feet above where she was standing; too high and out of reach for her. There was no reason for her to even attempt to try getting it back.

"No!" cried Ingrid. "What's Kendra going to do?"

"Kendra needs our help!" blurted Geminus. "Dominera's going to kill her!"

"But the barrier!" exclaimed Bracken. "It's too powerful to dispel! And even if we _could_ dispel it, Dominera can easily send us away again!"

"Dominera!" shouted Kendra, as she waved her hands back and forth. "Please stop! I surrender!"

Dominera snorted. "Is this really the best you can do?" she asked.

Kendra didn't know how to respond. Not only was her heart pounding furiously within her chest, but she didn't know how she could explain her fairykind and unicorn abilities to Dominera, or if it would even be a wise idea to do so.

"Kendra, you're disappointing me!" huffed Dominera. "I know you're capable of more than this! Here, take your little toy back, for what good it's worth."

Suddenly, the Emerock came plummeting down from above, and landed on the ground in front of Kendra.

"Dominera, I can't do anything else," said Kendra, as she bent down to pick up the Emerock. "That power I demonstrated back at Fablehaven, I could never have managed it on my own!"

"Don't hold back. You're hiding your true power from me. Why?"

Kendra shook her head. "I can't tell you!"

Dominera laughed. "Have you forgotten who's in charge here? You're going to demonstrate your true power to me, and that's final! But for this, I'll need a few volunteers from the audience."

Once again, Dominera allowed her eyes to exert a flash of purple light. Once it faded, Kendra could see that Ingrid and Warren were now standing between herself and Dominera.

Ingrid shrieked. "What happened?"

Displaying a worried look on his face, Warren glanced at Kendra, then turned his head back and up towards Dominera, who was looming over himself and Ingrid. Warren looked to be speechless.

"What's going on?" asked Seth, realizing that Ingrid and Warren were no longer with his group; instead they could be seen over on the butte with the others.

"No!" blurted Bracken. "I do _**not**_ like where this is going!"

"Get them out of there!" exclaimed Tanu.

"How?" asked Bright.

"I've got to do something," said Seth. "I might be their only hope."

"Dominera!" shouted Kendra, "you said that this was between me and you! What have you brought these two here for?"

"Because I've clearly become the winner by default," replied Dominera. "So it's time to proceed to the next round."

"Round?" asked Ingrid. "What do you mean there's _rounds_ to this?"

"Don't worry," said Dominera. "I expect this round to be the final one. And you two being the weakest of Kendra's allies will make this all the more entertaining."

"I don't like this," said Warren, as he removed the Translocator from his bag.

"You humans and your _tools_ ," said Dominera, as her eyes flashed. Suddenly, the Translocator had vanished from Warren's hands.

"Hey!"

"That's enough!" roared Dominera, as her eyes flashed yet again.

Once the flash faded, Kendra watched in horror as Ingrid and Warren's bodies both began to transmogrify into beastly shapes.

"No!" screamed Kendra, as Ingrid and Warren fell forward onto their hands, which were rapidly transforming into furry paws.

As they assumed quadrupedal forms, Kendra could only stare as Warren and Ingrid's bodies melted into what appeared to be large, yellow felines of some nature. A long mane of auburn hair grew around Warren's head, as he finished transforming into a lion. Likewise, Ingrid had become a lioness.

"What are you doing?" gasped Kendra, as Ingrid and Warren both glared in her direction.

It was hard for Kendra to accept the fact that the two lions that now stood before her were actually Ingrid and Warren. They looked just like the lions that she had seen in pictures, or at the zoo. However, those lions had been in either images or an enclosure, while right now, there was nothing separating Ingrid and Warren from herself. Once the two lions snarled in unison, one thing became clear to Kendra; they were **not** her friends.

The lions continued to snarl as they crept towards the spot where Kendra was standing. Kendra was terrified, but she did not know what to do. As ferocious as the lions seemed, they were still members of her family, despite anything that Dominera may have done with their bodies and minds. Alas, she did not want any harm to befall them.

Thinking quickly, Kendra held out the Emerock and used its power to erect bars of rock from the ground. The many rock bars that had suddenly jutted ten feet out of the ground had quickly surrounded Ingrid and Warren, effectively trapping them in a makeshift cage of sorts no more than a yard from where Kendra was standing.

Ingrid and Warren both stood up on their hind legs and pressed their bodies against the bars, in an attempt to push their way through, but were unsuccessful. Warren even stuck a paw between two of the bars, his extended claws were close enough that Kendra could've reached forward with her own hand and touched them. Fortunately, the bars prevented Warren from coming closer and raking Kendra with his claws.

"That's enough of _that_!" boomed Dominera, as her eyes exerted another purple flash. In an instant, not only did the bars of the cages crumble away into countless tiny pieces, but the Emerock had also vanished from her hand.

" **No**!" screamed Seth, watching in horror as Ingrid and Warren began to chase Kendra towards the edge of the butte. Kendra was trapped, with seemingly nowhere left to run.

A feeling of rage coursing its way throughout his body, Seth wanted more than ever to not only aid his cornered sister, but to restore Ingrid and Warren, and to put Dominera in her place. As the tension only grew stronger and stronger, Seth experienced the feeling of his angelic wings bursting out of his shoulder blades.

"Seth!" exclaimed Tanu, who appeared to already be confounded by what was going on over on the butte. Seth's sudden transformation no doubt only further escalated Tanu's excitement.

Barely even thinking, Seth experienced a feeling not unlike the one he normally did upon using the Translocator. The next thing Seth realized, was that he was no longer standing upon the edge of the cliff with the rest of his allies. Instead, Seth discovered that he was now standing on the butte itself, with Kendra by his side. Warren and Ingrid were steadily approaching them, while Dominera stood behind the two lions, looking rather smug.

"Seth!" exclaimed Kendra, feeling discombobulated as she spoke. "What's happening?"

"Hey, they're cheating!" quipped Maelstrom from the other side of the canyon.

Now that the lions had gotten fairly close, Warren proceeded to creep up towards Kendra, while Ingrid parted ways with him and made her way towards Seth.

"I don't know what that angel thinks he's doing, but there's nothing he can do to help," said Dominera. "You two are finished. And you're going to be done in not by a dragon, but by two mere mortal creatures."

Kendra shrieked as Warren immediately pounced upon her, knocking her down onto her backside. His head directly above her own, Warren opened his mouth and revealed a set of long, intimidating teeth.

" **ENOUGH!** " roared Seth, who could feel his as his wings began to glow intensely. Energy flowed out of his body, and suddenly caused Ingrid to instantly revert from a lioness back into a human. Looking over towards Kendra, Seth saw that Warren had regained his human form as well.

"Whoa!" cried Warren, as he rolled himself off of Kendra's fallen body and onto his knees, then offered out a hand. "Oh my god. Kendra, I am _so_ sorry!"

"Me too," chimed in Ingrid.

"It's not your fault," said Kendra, as Warren helped her stand up.

"That does it!" huffed Dominera. "If Kendra won't reveal her true power, I'll force it out of her!"

"NO!" blurted Seth, as he dashed over towards Kendra and grasped her hand. "Focus on becoming fairyprime! Do it! It's the only way we can defeat Dominera!"

Dominera chuckled to herself, as Seth focused on exerting his power into Kendra. It was as though she believed that Seth himself wasn't even powerful enough to contend with her.

As Seth held onto her hand, Kendra could feel as more and more angelic energy flowed its way into her body. The surge of energy that she was experiencing was incredible. The feeling was unlike what she usually experienced whenever she normally became fairyprime; what she was feeling right now felt far greater.

Her body now overflowing with power, Seth let go of Kendra's hand just as it transformed into a hoof, while the rest of her body assumed its unicorn form and fell onto all four of her hooves.

"Yes," said Dominera. "This is more like it!"

"This is your end, Dominera!" exclaimed Kendra. "You're finished!"

"Do your worst," said Dominera, glaring down towards Kendra. "I can take it."

"Wait!" cried Ingrid, as Kendra's horn began to glow in a rainbow of colors. "What if it's a trick? Like she wants to absorb your power, or something?

"It's a risk I have to take," said Kendra. "We have no other choice." Kendra then proceeded to aim her horn at Dominera. "I wish Dominera would leave us alone," she said, speaking under her breath.

Nothing happened. Kendra did not feel any different.

"It didn't work," said Seth. "You're a unicorn! Why isn't it working?"

"I don't know!" exclaimed Kendra. "Something must be wrong."

"Well, what is it?" asked Warren.

"I don't know!" exclaimed Kendra, as she blasted a beam of energy out of her horn in Dominera's direction. The beam made impact with Dominera, who was quick to block it by raising an arm out in front of herself. It didn't seem to have any real affect on Dominera.

"It didn't work!" cried Ingrid.

"Impressive," said Dominera, as she stroked her arm with her other claw. "Why, with power as great as that, combined with the power I have now... the possibilities are _endless_!"

Kendra didn't know what to do at this point. Dominera had endured her power, but inferred that it _was_ quite strong. Kendra was unable to think. She froze up, trying to think up some sort of solution, but couldn't.

"Kendra!" cried Seth. "Do something! We need you!"

"That horn..." said Dominera, as her purple eyes began to glow vividly. "I've never seen anything like it. It's _mine_!"

Suddenly, Kendra's horn went flying off of her head, like a cork that had popped out of a champagne bottle. Kendra experienced no pain, but could only watch the horn go flying away from her, as her body regressed back into its human form.

"No!" cried Warren, watching as the horn shot through the air towards Dominera.

The horn slowed down as it neared Dominera, then rose up higher into the air, until it was in front of the her face.

Although Kendra's unicorn horn was tiny in comparison to Dominera, it inexplicably ballooned in size the moment the base of it made contact with Dominera's forehead. The horn went from being small enough for Kendra's unicorn form, to being proportionately large enough to rest upon Dominera's head.

"No!" gasped Seth. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Yes!" laughed Dominera, as she rubbed her fingers down the ridges of the horn. "This horn... My new crown! My power is... unparalleled! I can feel it! With this horn, I know for sure that no one else can stop me! I am **unbeatable**!"

Dominera then looked down at the four knights that were standing on the butte. "At last, I have the power to take over the world. And none of you have the power to stop me! Especially _you_!" she said, pointing at Kendra. "I don't need to waste any more time with you weaklings. "

Dominera turned her head towards her pack members. "Dragons! We're out of here! And as for these humans and their friends. I'll spare them, if only for actually providing me with this horn. I want them to witness how I reshape this world. It's not like they can do anything to stop me, anyway. "

With that said, Dominera's eyes flashed again. Once the flash faded, Dominera had vanished, along with all the other members of her pack.


	33. Worlds Collide

**Chapter 33: Worlds Collide**

Having collapsed onto to her knees, Kendra pressed her fingers against her forehead. Although she was no longer in her unicorn form, Kendra was still experiencing the lingering feeling of her horn having been extracted from her head.

"Kendra," said Ingrid, as she, Seth and Warren gathered around her. "Are you okay?"

Kendra shook her head, then continued to rub it. "My horn. It's gone."

"What's gonna happen now?" asked Seth.

"I don't want to find out," said Warren, as the other members of the group suddenly materialized nearby on the butte, undoubtedly due to the power of fairy magic.

"Kendra!" gasped Bracken, as he ran over to her side, knelt down and placed a hand on her arm. "I am so sorry!'"

"Is she injured?" asked Geminus.

"I'm going to sense her right now," said Bracken, as he proceeded to set a hand down upon each of Kendra's shoulders. "The forced loss of a horn can feel extremely traumatic to a unicorn."

As Bracken touched her shoulders, Kendra could feel energy coursing out of his hands and through her body. However, the feeling did not last long, and went away the moment after Bracken removed his hands from her.

"Well?" asked Tanu. "How is she?"

Bracken sighed. "Well, given the fact that Kendra no longer has a horn, and because she lacks other associated traits, I'm afraid that she is no longer a unicorn."

Upon hearing the revelation, Kendra could feel her heart sinking down towards her stomach.

" _However_ ," continued Bracken, "Kendra's other traits still appear to be intact. From what I can gather, she is still fairykind."

"That sucks!" snapped Seth. "Dominera just came in, wiped the floor with Kendra, and made off with her horn! And she just became a unicorn for the second time, too!"

"And that's the real trouble we have to deal with," said Clover. "Dominera has a unicorn horn. And not just _any_ unicorn horn. But Kendra's."

"How'd Dominera even steal my horn?" asked Kendra. "I thought that it was impossible to outright steal a unicorn horn."

"That only applies to a horn that a unicorn has naturally released from their body," replied Bracken. "People used to poach unicorns for their intact horns all the time."

"This isn't good," said Bright, shaking her head. "Kendra's horn is different from other unicorn horns. It's capable of granting wishes. And even if Dominera is unaware of that knowledge, it's still possible that she or that three-headed dragon can study the horn and figure out what it's truly capable of."

"Dominera was already too powerful," said Warren. "The last thing we need is for her to become even stronger."

"We've got no choice," said Tanu. "We have to get Kendra's horn back from Dominera!"

Kendra, who could feel the early symptoms of a headache brewing her head, groaned. "I don't feel good. Can I please just take a breather? I think I need to lie down."

"But your horn!" exclaimed Skyfrost.

"I just want some rest..." said Kendra, as she let out a breath of exhaustion.

"Might as well," said Bracken. "Without the Oculus, we don't know where to begin looking for Dominera. If she's even in her lair or not."

"Let's go back to Fablehaven," said Warren. "We'll have some dinner, then we can look into going after Dominera."

"I used magic to recall these," said Bright, holding up the Emerock and Translocator in her hands.

The group used the Translocator to return to the yard at Fablehaven. The dragons flew off towards their cave, while the others approached the house. Kendra found herself barely able to stand up straight as she approached her home.

When the group entered the house, they were quick to brief the family as to all of the chaos that had recently transpired. Feeling too weary to care, Kendra stumbled into the living room and collapsed onto a couch.

"Kendra, are you okay?" gasped Mrs. Sorenson, as she placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"I don't feel like there's anything wrong with me," replied Kendra. "But I just feel so... _weak_."

Grandpa shook his head. "Things just keep getting worse and worse."

"We have no intention of overstaying our visit," said Bracken. "Once Kendra starts to feel better, we're going after Dominera again to get her horn back."

"I'd be hard pressed to object to the matter," said Mr. Sorenson. "But that does sound exteremely dangerous, even by your group's standards. Dominera was bad enough before. Now you're going after her while she's got something that can presumably amplify her power?"

"Scott's got a point," said Mrs. Sorenson. "How do you intend to approach Dominera and reclaim Kendra's horn?

"I'm not sure," replied Tanu, shaking his head. "Even if you resort to stealth, Woxull was a roadblock before, and I don't believe that the same trick you used against her previously will likely work again."

"Especially not with Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk around to outfox us," said Warren. "They've got three heads, but the brains of three-hundred."

"At least your timing isn't too bad," said Grandma. "Dinner's just about ready. Why don't you all have a seat at the table? Tanu, you're more than welcome to join us."

Everyone made their way out of the living room and took turns washing up in the bathroom. Kendra was the last to get up and go, but despite still feeling light-headed, the prospect of dinner _did_ seem pretty enticing. Once she placed her hands under a running faucet and splashed some cool water upon her face, she began to feel marginally better. But the discomfort of the situation was still eating away at her from within.

Soon everyone was seated at the dinner table. In front of each member of the table sat a plate of piping hot Swedish meatballs. The thick sauce of the dish was seeping into the bed of noodles that the meatballs were nestled in.

After taking a few bites of her meal, Kendra began to stop worrying about the havoc that Dominera had been causing. The delicious taste of rosemary and beef had distracted Kendra enough to the point where she could actually enjoy her grandmother's cooking.

Partway through the meal, everyone's phones all buzzed at roughly the same exact moment.

"What's this all about?" sighed Warren, as dropped his fork onto his plate, dug a hand into his pocket and fished out his phone.

"Can this wait?" quipped Grandma, scowling towards Warren. "I hate it when you guys use your phones at the dinner table!"

As Warren fiddled with his phone, a look of shock suddenly appeared on his face, complete with a gaping jaw.

"Oh my god..." gasped Warren. He looked as though he had seen a ghost, even though it was no secret that he had already seen far worse throughout his life. "No! This can't be true!"

"What is it?" exclaimed Grandpa.

"Check your phones," said Warren, as he got up from his seat and made his way toward the living room.

Intrigued, everyone else at the table removed their phone from their pocket. Kendra and Seth both discovered the same notification from Trask, and assumed that everyone else had as well. Upon reading the message, they both felt as though a ghostly hand had reached into their chests and proceeded to squeeze their hearts.

"What's it say?" asked Clover, looking over at Dale's phone.

"Dragons have been sighted at the United Nations?" uttered Seth, reading his notification aloud. "Turn on the news RIGHT NOW!"

"Dragons are on the news?" cried Ingrid.

"That doesn't make sense!" blurted Grandma, as Warren walked back into the dining room, now with his tablet in hand.

"Let's see what this is all about," huffed Warren, as he placed the tablet onto a corner of the table and set it down on its kickstand. He proceeded to press the play button of a video that was currently displayed on the screen.

The video started up, playing a live feed of what undoubtedly had to be somewhere in downtown Manhattan. Whoever was holding the camera couldn't seem to stand still, as the angle of the camera bounced around unsteadily without ever stopping in one spot for even a second.

The camera panned up, only to reveal Dominera and several other members of her pack, standing outside the United Nations Secretariat Building. Although the building appeared to be well over twice their height, the dragons still looked quite intimidating standing in front of it.

The camera then panned down, revealing huge crowds of people on the street who were staring up at the dragons in awe, most of whom were recording the scene on their phones. Hundreds, if not thousands of people, seemed to be in the immediate area alone. Additionally, the sounds of people shouting in terror filled the speakers on the tablet.

"It's not real!" screamed somebody from within the crowd.

"How is this happening?" gasped another person, who sounded utterly terrified.

"Folks," said the woman who was presumably holding the camera, "this appears to be _**very real**_. This is _**not**_ a movie! I repeat! This is _**not**_ a movie!"

As the camera panned back up at the dragon, Woxull appeared to be having some sort of conversation with Klorgg, Skremm and Iplekk. Despite their huge sizes, their voices were being drowned out by the sounds of the screaming crowd, as well as sirens blaring in the distance.

Woxull then turned her head back towards the crowd and surveyed it for a moment, only to stop once she was staring directly at the camera. "I see one!" she shouted.

Woxull leaped up into the air, prompting countless people in the crowd to gasp as she extended her wings. Once she was airborne, the yellow dragon bolted down directly towards the camera, with one claw extended in front of herself.

People screamed in terror as Woxull swooped down towards the crowd and neatly grasped the person who was holding the camera.

"HELP!" screamed the woman behind the camera, as Woxull flew back up into the air, with the woman trapped inside of her claw. Unable to properly aim the camera, everyone watching the feed couldn't see much except the scales of Woxull's enclosed claw, currently darkened by the lack of light that could actually make its way into it.

A moment later, Woxull unrolled the fingers of her claw, only to reveal Dominera's face outside of it. Apparently, Woxull had returned to her original position with the other dragons next to the Secretariat Building and was now holding her claw up before Dominera. The camera panned down and revealed that Woxull's claw was now many stories above street level.

"Oh my god..." trembled the camerawoman, as she panned the camera back up towards Dominera. The Dragon Queen was staring directly into the camera with her glistening purple eyes. What really got to Kendra was the fact that she could still see her stolen horn situated directly in the center of Dominera's forehead.

"Humans of Earth!" said Dominera, her voice booming straight into the camera. "My name is Dominera! I, along with the other members of my pack, am a dragon."

"This is crazy," said Warren, shaking his head as he fidgeted with his phone. "The internet is exploding with news about all this!"

"We are not aliens," continued Dominera. "For millennia, magical creatures such as us dragons have had to share the Earth with humans. Eventually, you humans utilized magic and overthrew the magical creatures. But over the years, your kind has all but forgotten about magic to the point where humans literally cannot see creatures like us without special concoctions."

"Grandpa," said Seth. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," replied Grandpa, nearly at a loss for words. "I always feared that there was a possibility that something like this might happen. I just never expected it to _actually_ happen!"

"Can't we stop this?" asked Ingrid. "Go back in time with the Chronometer and prevent all this from happening?"

"Time travel doesn't work that way," replied Bracken. "It would create a paradox."

"How is this even possible?" asked Kendra. "Even if Dominera and her pack went to New York, how is everybody human able to see them?"

"Recently, I obtained a way to increase my own power," said Dominera, even though she was unable to hear Kendra. "And thanks to said enhancement, I became powerful enough to cast a spell. A spell that enables every human to see magical creatures. And the radius of the spell is so great, that it's already afflicted every last human on the planet!"

"What _can_ we do?" asked Seth.

"I don't know," replied Bright. "Clearly, we _have_ to get Kendra's horn back from Dominera."

"And that's just beginning!" exclaimed Kendra. "We've still got to deal with the dragons themselves! And what about everyone who's seeing this? The damage is already done, and Dominera only just started."

"How would you go about even taking back Kendra's horn?" asked Tanu. "It's attached to Dominera's head!"

"Dominera stole Kendra's horn using magic," replied Bracken. "We're not sure how, though. But, in theory, Kendra should be able to call it back, especially since the horn is rightfully hers. I used a similar tactic to recall my second horn back from Mirav way back when."

"But your horn wasn't welded into Mirav's head!" blurted Kendra.

"It's still your horn. Ultimately, it belongs to you."

"And how do you propose we get it back?"

"Are you people crazy?" asked Dale. "New York City is a war zone right now!"

"Well what are we supposed to do?" asked Seth.

"This _has_ to be stopped," said Bracken.

"But how?" asked Ingrid. "And even if we could stop Dominera, which doesn't even seem to be possible, how are we supposed to fix everyone being exposed to all this?"

Seth winced for a moment. "The Chronometer. We have to go back in time and stop all this chaos from happening. At least far enough back to prevent Kendra from losing her horn."

"Seth, we just went over this," said Grandpa. "We can't afford to risk a potential paradox. Kendra lost her horn already. There's not really any way to prevent that from happening."

"You like this hullabaloo any better?" asked Seth, pointing to the tablet screen. On the screen, the camera was pointing down towards a packed street full of people running away in terror.

"Either way," said Warren, "we've got to get Kendra's horn away from Dominera. Bracken implied that Kendra _does_ have the ability to recall it from her. Although, I don't feel entirely confident that this'll actually work. No offense, Kendra. But I don't think you know what you're doing, exactly."

Kendra sighed. "You might be right. I don't know if I can do this. If I confront Dominera, and this plan of ours doesn't work, then what?"

"I don't know," replied Bright. "Dominera was trouble enough without your horn. Now things have only gotten worse."

"But we can't just _not_ do anything about this," said Ingrid. "I know I can't contribute to this sort of thing the same way that Kendra and Seth can, but I still want to help in any way I can."

"We're going," said Warren. "But this is a huge city with people in distress and powerful dragons running amok. There's still ways for us to help. But Kendra and Seth need to push their powers to the limit if we want to have any hope of coming out on top."

"Everyone grab their stuff," said Clover. "We'll meet up outside with the dragons in two minutes."

Kendra and Seth wasted no time in getting up from the table and getting their gear together. Kendra felt a little better now that she had eaten dinner. At the very least, she no longer felt weary. Instead, she was feeling terrified.

Before long, Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, Warren, Bracken, Bright and Clover had all gathered together outside the entrance of the dragon family's lair. Soon Raxtus, Geminus, Skyfrost and Firesquall were all watching the coverage of Dominera's invasion on Warren's tablet.

"And hear this!" shouted Dominera through the tablet. "I'm asking for all the leaders of the world to to travel right here to the United Nations within the next twenty-four hours! Any country that does not surrender to me on time will be be subjected to my order of destruction."

"We've got to stop this," exclaimed Geminus. "Right now!"

"Okay then," said Warren, as he shut off his tablet and slipped it into his bag, only to then pull out the Translocator, which he in turn wound up. "Let's do this."

Everyone placed a hand or claw upon the Translocator, and Warren twisted it again. Kendra and Seth both experienced a rush of being hurled through space, as the world around them faded out of existence. A moment later, they found that they were standing on a rooftop in the middle of what had to be Manhattan.

Kendra looked around and could see taller buildings that surrounded the one the group was currently standing upon. However, her attention was quickly drawn to the feint sounds of people screaming down below.

"The United Nations is southeast from here," said Warren, as her turned himself around and pointed. "So, it should be in that direction. But quite a few blocks from where we are now."

Everyone looked where Warren had pointed. However, there were too many tall towers between the United Nations and their current location for them to see what was actually happening down there.

"All right," said Bracken. "Kendra, you need to become Fairyprime. Seth, you've got to become an angel."

"Right," said Warren. "Ingrid, you and I will scout around on the wyverns."

"Wait!" exclaimed Ingrid. "I see a dragon!"

Everyone looked towards the southeast, and could see Qualvor rising up from behind several tall buildings.

"What's he doing?" asked Seth.

"You think they know we're here?" asked Skyfrost.

Qualvor turned away from the group, facing towards the south. He then flew towards the southern end of Manhattan and disappeared behind more buildings.

"What's going on?" asked Ingrid, just as Warren jumped onto Firesquall's back and the wyvern flew up into the air. Instinctively, Kendra, Seth and Ingrid got up onto the other dragons and joined him, while the fairies followed on their own.

Now hovering roughly one-hundred feet above the rooftops, everyone could see that the powerful red dragon had flown over New York Bay, and had just now landed upon Liberty Island in the distance.

"Oh, **shit**!" cried Warren.

All that anybody could do at this point was watch in horror as Qualvor grasped his claws around the Statue of Liberty. Using his immense strength, he tore the entire statue off of her pedestal, raised her up into the air, then tossed her into the bay.


	34. Power Trip

**Chapter 34: Power Trip**

"I can't believe this is happening!" exclaimed Kendra, watching as Qualvor stood upon the pedestal where the Statue of Liberty had been situated upon until only a moment ago.

Qualvor struck a pose and let out what had to be a tremendous roar. However, as he was a good three miles or so away from the group's current location, it was too far for them to be able to fully hear him.

"What are we going to do?" asked Ingrid.

"We get my horn back," said Kendra. "No matter what the cost."

The group, which had been floating high in the air above Manhattan, descended back down upon the rooftop where they had been previously.

"Here's what we'll do," said Bracken. "Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus and I will help Kendra achieve her fairyprime form. "Seth, we need you to become an angel. Warren and Ingrid, you two will scout out the city on Skyfrost and Firesquall. See if there's anything exceptional going on where our help might be needed."

"What if it doesn't work?" asked Clover. "We know Kendra's still fairykind, even without her horn. But can she still become fairyprime in this state?"

"There's only one way to find out," said Geminus.

Once Kendra, Seth and Ingrid got down from their dragons, Bracken, Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus all formed a circle around Kendra and held hands. The five beings all transformed into colorful orbs of glowing light, which in turn flew into Kendra's body and vanished from view.

With a sudden influx of energy now flowing throughout her body, Kendra didn't even have to think about what was about to happen. Her hair changed from its natural brown to being streaked with rainbow colors, while a pair of glistening wings sprouted from her backside.

Kendra let out a smile, which didn't come easy due to what was going on in the city around her.

"I bet they can feel your light energy from a mile away!" said Seth. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate, all while feeling the warm glow of Kendra's energy radiating from her body. Surely enough, Seth's pair of golden feathery angel wings suddenly came bursting out of his shoulder blades.

"All right!" said Kendra, admiring Seth's wings. "We did it!"

"Good," said Warren. "Now, this is the moment. The two of you need to approach Dominera together. And Kendra, you need to find a way to get your horn back from her somehow."

"You really think this is going to work?"

Warren stared blankly at Kendra, as did Ingrid, Skyfrost and Firesquall.

"I feel like we're doomed anyway if it doesn't," said Seth.

Ingrid ran over towards Seth and gave him a hug. "I don't know if we'll make it out of here alive," she said, a hint of crying resonating within her speech.

"You too," continued Ingrid, as she released her hold on Seth and gave Kendra a hug. "Everyone's counting on you."

Warren, who had gotten down off of Firesquall, also took a moment to hug both Seth and Kendra.

"It's now or never," said Kendra, turning back to look in the direction of the United Nations. "Every second counts."

Ingrid and Warren then climbed up onto Skyfrost and Firesquall respectively. Next, Kendra and Seth paused to glance at one another, as well as Ingrid, Warren and the wyverns. Next, as though the four fliers shared some sort of mental link between themselves, they all raised their wings upward simultaneously.

Kendra, Seth, Skyfrost and Firesquall all flapped their wings in unison. They then leaped up into the air and were soon floating high above the streets of Manhattan.

Kendra and Seth pressed forward in the direction of the United Nations. Skyfrost and Firesquall trailed behind them. Kendra looked back at the wyverns every few seconds, and if she had to harbor a guess, it was that they wanted to start close to where all the commotion was going on.

"She's so close," said Seth, once they had flown significantly closer to the location of the United Nations. From what they could sense, the only thing that now stood between them and Dominera was a single highrise building. They were now at a point where they were well within range of being able to hear Dominera and the other members of her pack.

"Look at how all the humans are fleeing!" laughed Jallun. Kendra and Seth looked down at the street that was far beneath their current position, where they could see a huge crowd of people running away from the United Nations, flooding the sidewalks and weaving their way between the cars that were in the middle of the street.

"This is the moment," said Kendra, as she turned her head towards Seth.

"I'm with you," said Seth, as he extended a hand out towards his sister. "Don't forget that."

Kendra nodded and accepted Seth's hand in her own, as they firmly locked them together. The two of them then flew around the building that stood before them, and were now directly in front of the United Nations.

Kendra and Seth gazed at all of the dragons who were loitering in front of the Secretariat Building. Although they had already seen the dragons through the footage that had played on Warren's tablet, it felt far more intimidating for the two of them now that they were actually there in person.

"Hey, look who decided to show up!" shouted Woxull, who was looking up at the group from down below. Almost immediately, all of the other dragons proceeded to turn their heads up towards the group as well.

"Oh, _them_?" asked Dominera. "I don't care about them anymore. They're _worthless_ to me now! There's an entire world out there that's mine for the taking!"

"DOMINERA!" blared Kendra, using her own magic to tremendously amplify her voice. "You've done enough! Give me back my horn. NOW!"

Dominera snarled in the group's direction. However, everyone's attention was suddenly drawn to the sound of jet engines off in the nearby sky. From what Kendra could tell, there were about a dozen military aircraft approaching the United Nations headquarters in a single formation.

"Dominera!" exclaimed Klorgg, "those appear to be jet engines belonging to the human military!"

"They intend to attack us!" noted Iplekk.

Dominera glared up at the incoming planes and exerted an intense blast of white energy from the unicorn horn that was sticking out of her head in their direction. As soon as the blast made contact with the jets, there was a huge explosion, and all of the planes spontaneously exploded, leaving behind nothing but clouds of flaming smoke that clouded up a section of the sky.

"Is that the best they can do?" asked Dominera.

"YOU MONSTER!" shouted Seth, no doubt amplifying his voice using the same power that Kendra had provided. "There were people in those jets that you just _killed_!"

"I don't care," said Dominera, sounding fairly confident in her speech.

"That does it!" exclaimed Kendra, as she extended her free hand out towards Dominera, her eyes fixated upon her stolen unicorn horn that was sitting upon the Dragon Queen's head. "To me!"

Kendra studied Dominera, only to see that her horn was still in the same exact position. It hadn't budged.

"What are you trying to pull?" snapped Skremm.

"Great plan," said Seth, speaking in a stubborn tone of voice. "Now what?"

"Clearly I need to drain those two of their remaining power," said Dominera. The unicorn horn on her head began to glow, and another beam of energy shot out of it, positioned directly at Kendra and Seth. However, the beam disintegrated only feet away from their faces, as though it had hit some kind of force field that they had been completely unaware of. Could it have been the work of the fairies that were within Kendra's fairyprime form?

"What was that?" exclaimed Ingrid.

"I don't know," replied Warren. "It was some kind of magical shield that protected them. But I don't know how powerful it is."

"Those two!" snapped Dominera, pointing up towards Skyfrost and Firesquall. "The two humans on the wyverns! I think we should do something about them."

"NO!" cried Seth, as Skyfrost and Firesquall backed away from where Kendra and Seth were currently floating.

"Our _friends_ will cooperate a lot better if we seize the other two! I don't care if the lot of you have to tear this entire city apart! Bring them to me!"

"Can't you just use that horn to bring them here?" asked Maelstrom.

"Not if I can't pinpoint their location," said Dominera.

"Lots of humans are gonna get hurt if we wreck the place, you know," said Jallun.

"Do it," said Dominera, as her purple eyes began to glow intensely. "Or face my **wrath**."

Kendra and Seth both watched as Skyfrost and Firesquall immediately shot off in opposite directions. However, down at the grounds in front of the United Nations, they watched as every last member of Dominera's pack, save for Dominera herself, extended their wings outward and shot up into the air.

"No!" gasped Kendra, as the enormous dragons all rose up towards the sky. She looked over in the direction that Skyfrost had flown off in, just as he veered behind another highrise.

"Skyfrost flew behind that building!" huffed Woxull, pointing at the very building that Skyfrost had flown around.

"Then let's get rid of it!" blared Zojj.

Zojj flew up towards the side of the highrise that Skyfrost had gone behind. He opened his mouth and a clear liquid came gushing out and drenched much of the outer wall that stood before him. Next, Zojj tore through another part of the wall with his pincers, revealing several floors of office suites. As his pincers pierced through a combination of concrete, steel and glass, the clear liquid he had exerted onto the building had already burned a huge hole in the wall.

"Please stop!" cried Seth, as Zojj continued to tear into the building with his pincers, while spraying more acid into the growing cavity he had created.

Seth shrieked once the entire building appeared to start collapsing. Apparently, the combination of acid and structural damage resulted in the building being unable to support itself. In a matter of seconds, the building had gone from being perfectly fine to a pile of rubble and debris.

"People were in that building!" roared Kendra.

"So what?" asked Zojj, as he and several other dragons flew off to where they thought Skyfrost had flown. Likewise, the rest of the pack had flown to where they believed that Firesquall had gone. "Like this planet doesn't already have enough humans."

"I can't sense the wyverns anymore!" said Woxull. "There's too much interference from the city!"

"Kendra?" exclaimed Seth. "What are we going to do?"

Kendra shook her head. "I don't know. "We aren't powerful enough. These dragons are simply too strong for us."

Kendra and Seth could only watch in horror as the dragons continued to demolish more highrises. Even if they wanted to try, not only were the dragons extremely powerful, but they had them outnumbered. And their powers did not give them any special advantage against the dragons.

Skyboom opened her mouth, and made a piercing noise so tremendous that it caused the wall of the building in front of her to suddenly shatter. Nightbolt and Maelstrom were attacking other buildings with a combination of lightning and water blasts. Qualvor was jumping up and down on the roof of another building, no doubt trying to force it into collapsing, while Zojj attacked another in the same manner he had used upon his previous target.

Kremm, Sklorgg and Iplekk were thrashing a building with their bare hands, as was Woxull. Jallun was doing the same thing, but had his four exceptional claws to work with.

Soon enough, each of the buildings that the dragons were attacking had all begun to collapse.

"They're going to destroy the entire city at this rate!" exclaimed Kendra.

"How do we stop this?" blurted Seth, as the dragons all moved on to attacking more buildings.

"You have to use your powers! Only an angel can fix everything. Set things right."

Seth took in a deep breath, then nodded. "Okay. I can do this. I hope."

Seth closed his eyes and looked at the pack of dragons, along with the city that they were in the midst of destroying. He proceeded to envision the metropolis that stood before him, except that there were no dragons attacking the place, and nothing had been destroyed.

Sensing that his wings were starting to glow, Seth opened his eyes. Kendra could see the brilliant golden light that was glistening from her brother's wings. This was it. Seth's power was about to work its magic.

Only... it didn't. Seth's wings suddenly stopped glowing. But nothing else had changed. All of the dragons were still around, and were in the midst of attacking a new collection of buildings.

"My powers," said Seth. "They didn't work. Even with you by my side, Kendra."

Kendra shook her head. "I don't think we have any other choice, Seth. I hate to say it, but we have to get Warren and Ingrid to stop hiding. Before these dragons level the entire city."

Kendra reached into her pocket and pulled out her special coin that Bracken had entrusted to her. She clenched it in her hand and focused on both Ingrid and Warren.

"Ingrid!" exclaimed Kendra. "Warren! We can't keep this up any longer! As long as you two keep fleeing from the dragons, they're gonna keep destroying the city until there's nothing left!"

" _You might be on to something_ ," said Warren, his voice flowing out of the coin in Kendra's hand.

" _Then where are we supposed to go?_ " asked Ingrid. " _Should we hide elsewhere? Lure them out of the city?_ "

"They're just gonna chase you around until they find you," said Kendra. "And if they can't find you, they'll only lose interest and go back to destroying the city!"

" _I hate to say it,_ " said Warren, " _but we may have to surrender ourselves to Dominera. If we surrender peacefully, she might actually go easy on us."_

Ingrid sighed. " _I suppose we have no choice_."

A few seconds later, Skyfrost and Firesquall both came into view, having flown in from behind large towers situated in two different directions.

"There they are!" exclaimed Woxull, who had been the first of Dominera's pack to notice Skyfrost and Firesquall's return.

"Quick, someone grab them!" blurted Klorgg.

Jallun flew towards Skyfrost, who quickly zipped away and out of the four-armed dragon's path.

"Hold it!" cried Warren, just as Firesquall narrowly evaded the swift talons of Nightbolt.

"Stop trying to catch them!" shouted Seth, as the dragons continued to pursue the two tiny wyverns. "You're going to crush them if you're not careful!"

"Take it easy," said Maelstrom. "I could care less about the humans, but those two wyverns _are_ my nephews."

"But they're too small and too fast for us to catch!" exclaimed Zojj, as Skyfrost veered away from one of the scorpion-like dragon's clasping pincers. "Catching little runts like these guys is hard when you don't have fingers!"

"Allow me," said Dominera, who had flown up into the air where the rest of her pack had been flying around.

Suddenly, Skyfrost and Firesquall both came to a complete stop in midair. It was as though they had been frozen in space. Dominera then flew over towards the two wyverns and grabbed them, one in each of her claws.

"Okay!" shrieked Firesquall. "You've got us!"

"Do you have to squeeze us so tightly!" gasped Ingrid. "I can't move!"

"What do you want with us?" asked Warren.

"Two things," replied Dominera. "I want Skyfrost and Firesquall to align themselves with me. _And_ I want Kendra and Seth to surrender the rest of their power to me as well. Or I'm going to do something quite nasty to their human friends."

Kendra winced. She didn't know what else to do at this point. "Okay. But first, we need to land on the street. And I want you to let my sister and cousin go."

"Very well," said Dominera, as she and her pack all descended down towards the ground at a far faster speed than Kendra and Seth could dive at.

Although the dragons had already landed, Kendra and Seth soared down towards the street that stood beneath them. The road appeared to be full of abandoned cars that were sitting in the middle of the street, but there were no civilians in sight.

Kendra and Seth landed in the middle of an intersection, and looked up at Dominera, who was looming several dozen feet over their heads, her body taking up an entire four-lane street. Her mere presence had apparently already knocked both of the corner traffic lights off of the street lights that they had been attached to, as they were now laying in the street, surrounded by shards of red, yellow and green glass.

"All right," said Kendra. "Please place the wyverns and their riders down in front of you."

Dominera nodded, then leaned her humongous body forward as she lowered her arms and released Skyfrost, Ingrid, Firesquall and Warren from her grasp.

"There," said Dominera. "I've upheld my end of the bargain. Now you four, get out of our way!"

Ingrid, Warren, Skyfrost and Firesquall all cautiously backed away from Dominera.

"Now," said Dominera, her eyes fixated on Kendra and Seth, "come here."

Kendra and Seth both hesitated. They knew exactly what would be coming next.

"I said come here! We had a deal. Approach me now, or I will _force_ you to come!"

"Stop it!" exclaimed Warren, as he stepped in front of Dominera.

Dominera said nothing. She could only sneer in Warren's direction.

"Warren, what are you doing?" asked Seth.

"You've already won!" cried Warren. "There's nothing we can do to stop you! But can't you see that Kendra and Seth are _terrified_? You're about to drain them of their power, which could very well kill them! At least give us all a moment to say goodbye-"

"Shut up," said Dominera. The Dragon Queen swiftly moved her leg forward and brought her huge talon down upon Warren, crushing him in the process.

" **WARREN!** " screamed Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, Skyfrost and Firesquall in unison.

"NO!" screamed Seth, holding back tears. He was beside himself. This couldn't be a trick. There was seemingly no way that Warren could've survived what had happened. He had to be dead. " **GOD DAMN YOU TO HELL!**!"

Dominera burst out in laughter, as did the rest of her pack. "You two have lost either way. Just give up already."

"NO!" blared Kendra, who felt like her entire body was on the verge of exploding. "THIS IS NOT OVER! **YOU** ARE GOING TO **PAY** FOR THIS!"


	35. Rise of the Queen

**Chapter 35: Rise of the Queen**

Never before had Kendra felt the way that she did at this very moment ever before in her life. The mere thought of Dominera filled her with rage, there was no denying that. But Kendra was also experiencing a bizarre feeling within her body as well. One that wasn't normally there on the rare occasion when she got exceptionally angry.

But this was different. Just by looking up at the smug faces that Dominera and the other members of her pack were wearing, Kendra experienced a feeling that she had never before experienced before. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it felt like the blood beneath her skin was outright boiling at this point.

Warren was dead. Dominera had crushed his entire body with a single talon. There was no going back now. Warren was no longer alive. All that was left of him now were memories. But there was no time for the Knights to reminisce over Warren now.

"You KILLED him!" blurted Seth, wincing as his shook his head in distraught.

"You've already won," sobbed Ingrid, barely able to look up at Dominera's face. "Why did you have to _kill_ him?"

"He was getting on my nerves. And come to think of it, so are _you_!"

Dominera's purples eyes suddenly glistened, and Ingrid began to rise up into the air, no doubt under the Dragon Queen's influence.

"Leave her alone!" roared Seth, as he extended his wings and flew up after Ingrid, only to be knocked off course by some unseen force, as though he had hit an invisible wall. After falling only a few feet, Seth found himself being caught in mid-fall by Skyfrost.

"HELP!" screamed Ingrid, as she continued rising higher into the air.

"We can't reach her!" exclaimed Firesquall, who was now flailing in midair above the street.

"You humans are all pathetically weak," said Dominera. "Just admit defeat already."

"NO!" snapped Kendra. "I won't let you!"

Dominera chuckled. " _You_? Think you can stop _me_? I was _already_ too powerful for you to ever contend with. And I'm only becoming even more powerful by the second. All thanks to your precious little horn."

Kendra glared at Dominera, as the Dragon Queen tapped the stolen unicorn horn that she had wrongfully planted upon her head. This was the moment. Kendra had to do something. She _had_ to get the horn back, no matter what it took.

Without so much as a second thought, Kendra raised her arm up towards Dominera's head. She began to focus on the horn as fiercely as she could. "TO ME!" she roared.

Dominera appeared to look dumbfounded, as she didn't seem to understand what it was that Kendra was trying to do. Which was entirely understandable, given that Kendra seemed to have accomplished absolutely nothing as result of her behavior.

All of a sudden, Dominera placed both of her claws upon her forehead and closed her eyes. She let out a tremendous roar, just as the unicorn horn that had been implanted within her forehead inexplicably shot out of her skull.

At that same moment, Ingrid immediately began to fall, prompting her to scream. However, she was quickly caught by Firesquall, who had bolted up into the air and caught her.

With the exception of Dominera, who was still trying to cope with the trauma she was experiencing, everyone else watched in awe as the horn rocketed down to the street where Kendra was standing, rapidly decreasing in size as it descended. By the time the horn had reached Kendra, it had returned to its original size.

The horn landed directly into Kendra's outstretched hand, and she proceeded to clasp her fingers around it. As soon as she did, Kendra could feel tremendous power flowing out through her horn, which proceeded to course its way into her body.

"Dominera!" snapped Iplekk, as she and her two sisters landed on the street that intersected with the one the Dragon Queen was standing on. "Are you all right?"

Without so much as a single thought, Kendra's body immediately underwent a transformation. Completely speechless, Seth and his allies watched as Kendra suddenly transformed back into her unicorn form.

This time, however, Kendra felt different. Her horn was absolutely brimming with power. She could only think back to the previous time that she had felt this strong; when she first became a unicorn after being inducted as a duchess.

One thought immediately clicked into Kendra's mind. If her intuition was correct, she could grant wishes again! Possibly even ones greater than when the Fairy Queen had restored her power. There was only one way to find out. But Kendra had to be careful. One irreparable mistake could cost her dearly. It had already done so in the past.

"You fools!" blurted Dominera, who was still covering the spot on her forehead where Kendra's horn had previously been. "Kendra took my horn! Get it back! **Now!** "

Kendra stared up at the members of Dominera's pack, all of whom were glaring down at her from above or between the buildings that surrounded the group.

"KENDRA!" exclaimed Seth, who could sense that Skyboom was preparing to swoop down directly at Kendra once she had perfected her trajectory; her full wingspan was clearly too wide to fit between the the buildings that stood on each side of the street.

"I wish..." began Kendra, as Skyboom tucked her wings inward, "that... Dominera and her pack... were all... **three inches tall**!"

Sudddenly, Kendra's horn exerted a brilliant flash of multi-colored light. Just as soon as her horn flashed, did each and every dragon in Dominera's pack, including the queen herself, had seemingly disappeared.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Firesquall, as he landed next to her with Ingrid on his back. "What happened to the dragons?"

"Where'd you send them?" asked Ingrid.

Kendra exhaled deeply. She felt relieved, but at same time, also felt like she was still under a tremendous amount of pressure. "I didn't send them anywhere. I just wished for them to be three inches tall."

Seth's face lit up. "Seriously?"

"If they're that small, they're tiny now," said Skyfrost. "But how will we find them?"

"I've got an idea," said Kendra. "I wish that Dominera and her dragons would appear in front of me, but inside a force field."

Kendra's horn flashed vibrantly again. Another flash of light followed, as Dominera and every member of her pack suddenly appeared on the street in front of her. What were once a group of towering behemoths, each of them now were no bigger than a mouse standing on its hind legs.

Ingrid gasped, as everyone gathered around the crowd of tiny dragons that was standing in the middle of the street. The various shrunken dragons all proceeded to either fly or charge away from their current position, but could not get very far, as they were being held back by an unseen barrier, no doubt said barrier being none other than Kendra's force field. Each dragon repeatedly attempted to fight his or her way through the force field, but gave up after a few failed attempts. Nightbolt even disappeared, only to immediately reappear in the exact same spot.

"This is... different," said Skyfrost. "They're so small now."

"We're bigger than they are!" exclaimed Ingrid.

Seth smirked. "Sure feels kinda _nice_ for a change, don't you think?"

Firesquall loomed down at the shrunken dragons. "Still think we're weak, now?"

Kendra glared at the tiny captured dragons that were all huddled before her. Even though they were essentially trapped, she was still extremely angry down inside. It was as though the surrounding world meant nothing to her.

At that moment, the street began to tear open, as though there had suddenly been an earthquake. Balls of hail inexplicably began falling from the sky and started smacking into the heads of the group members.

"Kendra!" cried Seth, who could see a tidal wave rising out of the East River in the distance.

"What's going on?" exclaimed Ingrid, as Firesquall raised a wing over her head to shield her from the hail.

At that moment, Bracken, Bright, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus all appeared next to Kendra, who still remained in her unicorn form.

"Kendra, you're losing control!" cried Bracken. "You need to stop!"

"She's not listening!" exclaimed Geminus.

"Kendra's angry," said Raxtus. " _Very_ angry."

"I'll say," said Clover, frowning furiously. "Dominera just _killed_ my husband!"

"This is all Kendra's doing?" asked Ingrid. She's gonna kill everyone if you don't stop her!"

"We can't," said Bright. "Kendra's resisting our power!"

Seth stopped to think. Maybe the fairies couldn't help Kendra. But perhaps an angel could. "Kendra," said Seth, as his wings began to emit a glow. "Please relax."

Kendra suddenly experienced a feeling of warmness and comfort, which quickly eroded the anger and wrath that had been coursing through her body. The hail that had been falling from the sky suddenly stopped, and the tidal wave that had been growing in the distance began to sink back into the river from whence it came.

Kendra sighed, and Seth's wings ceased to glow. She looked around at the fractured street that was now littered with balls of hail. "Good lord! What have I done?"

"Get us out of here!" said Klorgg, facing Dominera alongside her sisters.

"I... can't!" said Dominera. "The force confining us is too powerful!"

"We surrender!" cried Zojj. His voice was fairly high-pitched at this reduced size, a stark departure from the booming voice he had spoken in beforehand.

"Don't hurt us!" squealed Nightbolt. "Dominera made us cause all this destruction!"

"Yeah!" blurted Maelstrom. "But she's our queen! We had to obey her, or face her wrath!"

Dominera snorted. "Don't drag your queen into this! I may be small, but I still have the power to destroy every last one of you in the blink of an eye."

"Oh really?" asked Kendra. "In that case, I wish that Dominera would lose her powers."

Just as soon as Kendra finished speaking, her horn began to glow, followed by another flash of light. Once it faded, Dominera fell over.

"Dominera?" asked Jallun, as he and the other dragons all gathered around the fallen Dragon Queen.

"I feel... very tired," said Dominera, speaking in a soft voice, that was already higher than usual due to her reduced size.

"What are you going to do with Dominera?" asked Ingrid.

Kendra glared at Dominera. Without saying anything, Kendra's horn began to glow again. Suddenly, Dominera was no longer contained within the force field with the other dragons; she was now lying on the street directly in front of Kendra.

"Kendra, what are you _doing_?!" exclaimed Seth. "Put her back in with the other dragons! She's dangerous!"

"Relax," said Kendra. "I've got this under control. Without her powers, Dominera is about as dangerous as a gecko."

"Who do you think you are?" hissed Dominera, staggering to get herself to stand up. "Underneath that unicorn body, you're just another worthless human."

"Say that again," said Kendra.

"You're a worthless **human**."

A brilliant thought entered Kendra's mind. "If that's the way you feel about my kind, then I have a very suitable punishment for you."

" _Punishment_?" asked Dominera, sounding as though she had never heard the word before in her life.

Kendra nodded. "I wish that Dominera would turn into a human."

Kendra's horn glowed, followed by another flash of light. Dominera then screamed, as she immediately transformed into a human. However, due to her already reduced-size, the human she became could barely qualify as a speck. Despite this, it was still quite obvious that Dominera had become Asylha McCallum once again, only now she was at a proportionately reduced size.

Dominera shrieked, but her voice was now too small for anyone's ears to properly hear. However, it felt safe to assume that she was angry about her new situation in life.

"I wish that Dominera would revert to her proper human size," said Kendra, whose horn glowed once again.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Ingrid, as Dominera suddenly shot back up to her human form's appropriate height. "What are you doing?"

"If I allow Dominera to remain tiny, then she'll have too much room where I'm sending her. I wish that Dominera would become a prisoner at Fablehaven."

"Prisoner?" exclaimed Dominera, as her body rapidly faded out of existence. "What are you-"

"Is that it?" asked Geminus, once Dominera had disappeared entirely. "She's really gone?"

"The prison at Fablehaven is pretty secure," said Bracken. "And Dominera's powers are seemingly gone. Yes. I'd say she did it! Kendra defeated Dominera!"

"Uh, what about us?" asked Klorgg in a nervous tone of voice, drawing everyone's attention to the shrunken members of Dominera's pack, who were still trapped inside the force field.

"I _should_ sentence you to the same punishment as Dominera!" exclaimed Kendra. "But I don't want to do that. I'm not sure why, but deep down, my heart is telling me that it would be wrong."

"How's it wrong?" asked Seth. "These dragons are _vile_."

"I know. But I don't think things need to be this way. These dragons right here are among the last known ones who weren't rounded into sanctuaries. They weren't causing humans much trouble until recently. If Dominera's out of the picture, perhaps they can redeem themselves. I'm willing to give them a chance."

"Seth has a point," said Bright. "Dominera's orders or not, these dragons have given us nothing but trouble this whole time."

"Hear me out, dragons," said Kendra. "I will restore you to your proper sizes and allow you all to go free. But in return, you need to leave the human world alone."

"That sounds good," said Qualvor.

"I mean it. If I find out that any of you dragons have caused any, and I mean _any,_ unwarranted trouble, I'll make sure that you're sorry. You're lucky that I'm kind enough to grant you freedom even after everything that's happened. So try not to blow it. Understood?"

"Yes!" cried all the dragons.

"We know what you're capable of!" cried one voice.

"We'll be good!" shouted another.

"Then it's agreed," said Kendra. "I wish that these dragons would all teleport back to their lair, and return to the proper sizes."

Once again, Kendra's horn emitted a brilliant flash. As it faded, all of the dragons suddenly faded away, just like Dominera had done so.

"That's it?" asked Clover.

"You're just letting them go?" asked Ingrid. "After everything they've done?"

"I couldn't bear the thought of banishing them," said Kendra. "I want to be a good leader. But this power of me... It could be really dangerous if I'm not careful."

"Excuse me!" shouted a voice from down the street. Up ahead, there was a woman running towards the group, carrying a television camera in one arm.

"Who's that?" asked Ingrid.

"Oh god," said Seth, as the woman approached the group. She was wearing a navy blazer and had trouble running in the high-heels she was wearing. "It's the woman who was filming everything! And now she probably has even more footage!"

"What happened here?" asked the woman, as she stopped in front of Kendra, aiming her camera at the unicorn's face. "Who are you? Are you really a unicorn? Oh... I have so many questions."

"You've been recording everything that's happened?" asked Ingrid.

"Yes. Millions and millions of people have witnessed everything I've filmed!"

A terrifying thought suddenly hit Kendra. Not only had New York been attacked, but countless people had seen everything that had transpired, and were waiting to see what would happen next. On top of that, it would no doubt be easy for someone to see everything online, where it was undoubtedly being shared at an unpredictable rate at this very moment. And then there was the matter of what had happened to Warren.

"There's something I'd like to say," said Kendra. "Bracken, can you turn me back into a human? Last time I made a wish like that, things didn't exactly work out for me."

"Sure," said Bracken, as he flicked a finger towards Kendra. All of a sudden, Kendra reverted back to her human form.

"This is... unbelievable," said the woman, whose mouth hung open in awe.

Kendra took in a deep breath, then exhaled as she stared into the lens of the camera. "I can do this. Uh... hi! My name is Kendra Sorenson. And, long story short, I'm a unicorn. Because, surprise! Magic is real, and so are creatures like unicorns, dragons, fairies and trolls!"

"Is she really telling mortal humans about our world?" asked Raxtus.

"Yup," said Seth. "There's no going back now."

"You see, I recently developed the power to grant wishes. And that dragon from earlier, Dominera, seized my horn just to increase her own power. With it, she was able to force the world into being able to see magical creatures, just so that she could take it over. And even though I managed to stop her, I don't think we can go on like this. Society has already been shaken up tremendously. And with my ability to grant wishes now public, everyone's going to come after me seeking my assistance. And while I'd be more than willing to help others, what lies ahead already feels like it'll be chaos. So instead, I'm going to try and set things back to the way they were. If I'm successful, none of you watching will remember any of this."

"I can't believe this is happening," said the woman.

"Kendra," said Bracken. "What are you doing?"

"Turn me back into a unicorn, please,"

"Okay," said Bracken, using his power to return Kendra to her unicorn form.

"We need to get out of here," said Kendra, looking into the camera. "I wish that everyone in my group was back on that rooftop that we were on when we arrived in New York."

Kendra's horn suddenly glowed, and the street where the group was gathered shifted into the rooftop they had been on when they arrived in New York only a few minutes ago. The camerawoman was not with them.

"First," said Kendra, "I wish to undo Dominera's spell that's enabled everyone to see magical creatures."

Kendra's horn glowed and flashed brightly.

"Did it work?" asked Ingrid, looking around at Kendra, Raxtus and Geminus.

"Hopefully," said Clover. "But Ingrid, if you already drank milk today, then cancelling Dominera's spell shouldn't affect what you can see."

"Now for the big one," said Kendra. "I wish that all of the damage that Dominera and her pack did to New York City would be undone. And that no innocent people, wherever they are, would retain any memory of what happened under her influence over these past few days."

Once Kendra stopped talking, there was a pause. Everyone stared at her horn with baited breath. Had her wish been too convoluted? Was such a wish even capable of being granted?

Kenra's horn glowed again, followed by a very intense flash of light.

"Did it work?" asked Bright, looking around.

"I don't know," said Ingrid, as she stared out at the city that surrounded the building they were on. "But I can't see any destroyed buildings. So maybe it worked."

"I think it _did_ ," said Seth, looking at his phone. "I can't find any evidence of what happened online. Everything seems normal."

Seth's phone suddenly rang in his hand. Without even checking to see who called, Seth tapped the answer button and held the phone up to his face. "Uh, who is it?"

"It's me," replied Warren, "where are-"

" **WARREN**!" screamed Seth, who began trembling in elation.

"He's _**alive**_?" exclaimed Clover.

Kendra didn't understand what was going on, but she didn't care. "I wish that Warren would appear in front of me."

Kendra's horn glowed again. Suddenly, Warren appeared in front of Kendra, still holding his phone up to his head.

"WARREN!" cried every member of the group, prompting Warren to lower his phone in confusion. Before he could say anything, every member of the group surrounded him in what could best be described as a cross between a group hug and a dogpile. Despite not having arms in her current form, Kendra pressed her body up against the group.


	36. The Horn

**Chapter 36: The Horn**

After a solid minute of hugging, everyone finally released their grasp on Warren, who proceeded to inhale deeply.

"All right," said Warren. "Can someone please tell me what's going on here? I feel _really_ confused."

"Warren," said Kendra, "I don't know how else to tell you this, but you were _dead_."

"I was _dead_? Are you kidding me?"

The entire crowd, consisting of the Sorensons, fairies and dragons all responded in unison with a loud " _ **NO!**_ ".

"You really were dead," said Clover, as she proceeded to hug Warren a second time.

"What happened?" asked Warren. "Last thing I remembered, it seemed like Dominera was about to step on me. Then the next thing I knew, you guys and all of the dragons were suddenly gone. The street was back to normal, as though the city had not even been attacked. I don't understand what could have happened."

"Dominera _did_ step on you."

Warren placed a hand up to his forehead. "Am I alive, or in heaven?"

"I think we owe Warren an explanation," said Bracken, as he and the others took turns telling Warren about what had occurred since he had died. They spoke of how Kendra managed to reclaim her horn back from Dominera, put the dragons in their place, and reverted the city and public knowledge back to the way they had been before Dominera's interference.

"So Kendra did it?" asked Warren, sounding quite anxious. "You managed to wish away Dominera and the other dragons, restore the city back to its previous state, and undo all of the damage that had been done, including bringing me and everyone else who was killed, back to life?"

"She did," replied Bright. "Somehow, Kendra managed to regain full control over her horn again."

"Now you can wish for anything you want!" exclaimed Seth. "This is gonna be so awesome!"

Kendra shook her head. "No, it's not awesome. In fact, it kind of scares me."

"What are you talking about?" asked Ingrid.

"I know I can grant wishes. But I'm barely able to control this power. I already lost this power before, all because I wasn't careful."

"True," said Bracken. "But you didn't know any better when that happened. None of us did."

"But it could still happen if I'm not careful! I still possess the ability to do that. And it might even be possible without explicitly wishing for it."

"What do you mean?" asked Raxtus.

"It was after I got my horn back from Dominera," replied Kendra. "I was so mad, I could feel my horn triggering the ominous signs that were starting to occur. The hail. The tidal wave. The _earthquake_. This power I have feels extremely dangerous. What if I do something irreversible? Completely by accident? What then? Merely _thinking_ about something bad might result in it actually happening."

"I don't know," replied Bright. "In fact, I don't think any of us do. I think you're just going to have to learn how to better control your horn, as unreasonable as it sounds."

"But I don't know if I can," said Kendra. "I just wish... NO!"

Kendra squinted her eyes shut and shook her head. "I can't even say _that_! Oh, what am I supposed to do?"

"What is it, Kendra?" asked Geminus.

"Well I don't want to permanently lose this horn. Is there any way to simply _remove_ the horn from my body? Similar to what Dominera did?"

"Dominera flat-out poached your horn away from you," replied Bracken. "Even though it wasn't ready to come out. Similar to baby teeth, a unicorn's first two horns are only intended to come out as the unicorn matures. _However_ , in theory, there may be a way to safely separate you from your horn, Kendra."

"What's that?" asked Kendra.

Bracken looked around at the skyline that surrounded the rooftop everyone was standing on.

"You know what, let's get back to Fablehaven first. I'll tell you the rest the moment we get back."

"Okay," said Kendra. "I wish we were all back at Fablehaven."

Kendra's horn lit up brilliantly. There was a flash of light, and the next thing everyone knew, they were no longer in New York City. As Kendra had asked for, they were all now standing in the front yard back at Fablehaven.

"This is even more convenient than the Translocator," said Warren.

"Okay, Kendra," said Bracken. "I can use my own power to detach your horn from the rest of your body. Right now, even. It shouldn't take long. However, you will need to openly state that you are choosing to part with your horn under your own free will. That way, this procedure will not constitute as theft."

"All right, then," said Kendra. "If you can do this now, then let's get it over with. The sooner I get separated from my horn, the better."

Bracken stood in front of Kendra and held out his hands, which proceeded to exert a white glow. "Understood. Now, repeat after me: I, Kendra Sorenson..."

"I, Kendra Sorenson..." said Kendra, quoting Bracken.

"Do hereby grant Bracken..."

"Do hereby grant Bracken..."

"The full authority to remove my horn..."

"The full authority to remove my horn..."

"Entirely under my own free will."

"Entirely under my own free will."

As soon as Kendra finished speaking, she experienced a feeling in her horn, as though somebody was pulling on it, despite the fact that nobody was physically touching it. Suddenly, Kendra's horn popped out of her skull, and hovered over towards Bracken.

Kendra then experienced a tingling sensation throughout her body, as she immediately proceeded to transform back into a human.

"What's going on?" asked Ingrid.

"I think it's fairly obvious," replied Raxtus. "By removing her horn, Kendra lost the one thing that truly made her a unicorn."

"First thing's first," said Bracken, as he waved his hands around the floating horn, causing a glass cylinder to materialize around it.

"So that's it?" asked Seth. "Kendra's back to normal, now?"

"Normal for her, anyway," replied Bright. "Kendra no longer appears to be a unicorn. But she should still be fairykind."

"How do you feel, Kendra?" asked Geminus.

"I feel... fine," replied Kendra. "Especially now that I don't need to worry about any thought that might enter my head."

"Kendra, I do wish to return to the Fairy Kingdom with you," said Bracken. "So that my mother may analyze both you and your horn. Is that all right?"

"I suppose. But what about everything else? I don't know for sure where Dominera or any of the other dragons actually are right now. Who's to say my wish worked the way I wanted it to?"

"We'll check up on everything when we go inside," said Ingrid. "If the Fairy Queen ought to examine you, maybe it's important that you take care of that."

"You can borrow this," said Warren, as he removed the Translocator from his bag and presented it to Kendra, who in turn accepted the artifact from him.

"Take care," said Clover, as she, Seth, Ingrid and Warren walked through the yard towards the front of the house. Raxtus, Geminus, Skyfrost and Firesquall all proceeded to fly off in the direction of their lair.

"All right, Kendra," said Bracken, "let's go pay my mother a visit."

Kendra wound up the Translocator in her hands and held it out so that Bracken and Bright could touch it. Envisioning the Fairy Queen's throne room in her head, Kendra proceeded to twist the Translocatror again, which caused her and her two allies to be whisked away.

Kendra opened her her eyes and saw that she, Bracken and Bright were now standing in the throne room of the Fairy Queen.

"Kendra," said the Fairy Queen, as Bracken and Bright took their hands off of the Translocator, prompting Kendra to slip the device into her bag. "What brings you here?"

"I did it!" exclaimed Kendra, as she walked up towards the dais at the far end of the room. She looked up at the Fairy Queen, who was currently seated upon her throne. "I got my power back! I'm able to grant wishes again! I even defeated Dominera and her dragons!"

"I want to say that you're kidding. But I have reason to believe that you're being truthful. And I think I know why. Bracken, is that what I think it is?"

"It is," said Bracken, as he walked up the dais to the throne where the Fairy Queen was seated. He presented to her the casing that Kendra's horn had been contained in.

"I have many questions," said the Fairy Queen, as she accepted the container from Bracken. "But Kendra, why is your horn even in here?"

"Because I don't think that I can control it properly," responded Kendra. "Even after I had gotten the upper hand against Dominera, just the thought of wanting to punish her triggered things like hail and an earthquake."

"Kendra's worried that she'll do something wrong by accident," said Bright. "And that she might not have the ability to remedy it."

"This horn is most unusual," said the Fairy Queen. "I'm not surprised that it can grant wishes."

"But _why_?" asked Kendra. " _Why_ is my horn so powerful?"

The Fairy Queen studied the encased horn that she was currently holding. "I'm not entirely sure. But as we all know, you are not like other fairies. There are attributes within you that the rest of us have been unable to emulate. However, one thing I have sensed that stands out is that there's some degree of angelic energy lingering in your horn."

"Angelic energy?" exclaimed Bright. "Mother, do you mean to say that Kendra might also be part angel?"

The Fairy Queen chuckled, only to shake her head. "No. While I did sense angelic energy within Kendra's horn, I don't believe that it originated from within her."

"You mean, someone else was the source of this angelic energy?" asked Bracken.

"I believe so."

"Seth!" said Kendra, Bracken and Bright all in unison after a momentary pause.

"Uh, does that mean that Seth did something to my horn?" asked Kendra.

"He must have," replied the Fairy Queen. Where else could this angelic energy have come from?"

"Windshear, perhaps?" asked Bright. "But with all due respect, Kendra, you spend far more time with your brother than you do with Windshear and Stargleam."

"But Seth didn't _do_ anything!" exclaimed Kendra. "All things considered, I haven't even had my horn for a very long time. And I'm pretty positive that Seth never did anything to infuse my horn with any of his power."

"Seth _did_ do something," said the Fairy Queen. "But, not on purpose. I think it may have simply been exposure to Seth's angelic presence that caused your unicorn form to develop the way it did, being able to grant wishes."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Bracken.

"It's an educated guess. But it has merit. For countless years, fairies and unicorns have _not_ co-existed alongside angels and pegasi. It wasn't until your recent discovery of Windshear, as well as Hope and Air Flair, that we've had any recent connection with their kind."

"What does that mean?" asked Kendra.

"It means," replied the Fairy Queen, "that the angels and pegasi that you've been around lately likely had a part to play in you being able to grant wishes."

"That actually makes sense," said Bright. "The only other method we ever knew of that could truly grant wishes was the Omega Star. And that was it."

Bracken nodded. "You're right. The Omega Star was crafted using ancient fairy technology. But we've never been able to replicate its abilities."

"But if Kendra's recent association with angels is anything to go by, then it's possible that angels themselves had a hand in the creation of the Omega Star."

"You might be on to something," said the Fairy Queen. "Angels have unique attributes and abilities. Given that the Omega Star was developed so, so, long ago, it would actually make sense that angels lent their magic in its development. With powerful fairy and angel magic rooted within it, the Omega Star was powerful enough to be capable of granting wishes."

"But wait," said Kendra. " _You_ are the mother of all fairies. Why do you not have knowledge of the Omega Star's creation?"

The Fairy Queen shook her head. "The Omega Star was not developed with my consent. It was created in the mortal world for not the Knights of the Dawn, but their ancestors. These ancient people had little defense against powerful creatures. However, several fairies and angels sensed that the ancients needed help, so together they devised a powerful tool that could be used to protect them."

"With the power of the Omega Star, the ancients could have ruled the world," said Bright.

"In theory, yes. But the fairies and angels who developed the Omega Star could sense that the ancients were not malicious, and entrusted the Omega Star to them. However, those fairies and angels chose not to share their secret with anyone else, out of fear that things would get out of hand if more individuals had the ability to grant wishes. And now that those angels and fairies are all long dead, their secret was seemingly lost forever."

"And what did the ancients do with the Omega Star?" asked Kendra.

"They drove away demons, dragons and other powerful monsters," replied Bracken. "And they restored the damage that they caused. Once the ancients felt that they had no more need for the Omega Star, they separated its five components and hid them away in their respective vaults."

"You said that they drove those monsters away," said Kendra. "Because the Omega Star isn't capable of granting wishes that can directly cause death. Like how Tritanoss had to be banished under the sea, rather than simply being killed."

"That's exactly right," said the Fairy Queen.

"We believe that the Omega Star not being capable of killing anybody was a failsafe," said Bright. "In case it ever fell into the wrong hands or something. Conversely, it could not bring the deceased back to life."

A thought suddenly popped into Kendra's head. "Warren! I brought Warren back to life. And all the other people who were inevitably killed by Dominera and her pack."

" **What**?" asked the Fairy Queen, who appeared to be dumbfounded. "My, we got so caught with just talking about your horn, that you barely even told me exactly what went on since I last saw you. Including what transpired with Dominera. Please, enlighten me."

Kendra, Bracken and Bright all took turns explaining to the Fairy Queen everything that had happened since their previous visit. They spoke about how Kendra was able to banish Dominera's pack away from Fablehaven, but not Dominera herself, who challenged her to a duel at the Grand Canyon.

Next they talked about how Dominera managed to seize Kendra's horn and declared that she would be able to conquer the world with its power, even though she was seemingly unaware that it was capable of granting wishes, at least for Kendra.

They then told the Fairy Queen about how Dominera used the power of Kendra's horn to manipulate the perception of everyone on the planet, so that each and every last individual could all see magical creatures without any special aid.

They went on to talk about how Dominera and her pack appeared on television, and how they terrorized New York City. Eventually, they got into speaking of the altercation that their group had gotten into, and how Kendra eventually got her horn back and ultimately set things straight.

"That is _incredible_ ," said the Fairy Queen, once Kendra, Bracken and Bright had finished telling their story. "You can actually grant wishes, Kendra! I'm... I'm speechless. Your horn is unlike anything that I have ever seen in a unicorn. Even what Dominera did with it, though not something I would ever approve of, is amazing."

"How is this even possible?" asked Kendra. "Not only am I not the first fairy-like being to be living among angelic beings, but I'm not entirely a proper fairy or unicorn. I'm a human being first, fairykind second."

"Not anymore you aren't," said Bracken, shaking his head.

"What do you mean?" asked Kendra.

"You've changed," replied Bright. "We were wrong. You're technically not actually a human being anymore. You're still a unicorn. Even though your horn is no longer a part of you."

Kendra didn't know what to say. She figured that even without a horn, she technically was still a unicorn. But to not even be considered a human anymore... What did it mean?

"Bracken nodded. "Except, you started off in a human form, instead of as a unicorn. You're kind of like a _reverse_ unicorn, that regard."

"So, I'm not entirely like you other unicorns, am I?"

"You are different," replied the Fairy Queen. "Partly in ways that we cannot even fathom. It's likely why you've been able to grant wishes."

"But I couldn't always grant wishes," said Kendra. "It only worked the first time, and when I got my horn back from Dominera."

"Looking at your horn now, and comparing it to earlier, I think I know the answer to that," said the Fairy Queen, admiring the encased horn that she was holding. "It's currently imbued with angelic energy. And if I had to make a guess, it's due to the intervention of your brother."

"Seth? But he didn't do anything outstanding here."

"It wasn't intentional. But with him being angelkind, and you being fairykind, you likely absorbed some of his excess energy prior to your birthday, without even realizing it. Thus, when you first became a unicorn, you were able to grant wishes. And even though you lost your powers, when you them back, you hadn't been around Seth long enough for it to have any influence."

"Then how was I able to grant wishes after getting my horn back from Dominera?" asked Kendra.

"Two theories," replied Bright. "One was that you had been exposed to Seth more, and you were fairyprime at the time. Another theory that likely crosses over with the first is that you were so furious at Dominera for crushing Warren, that your body somehow jump-started your ability to grant wishes."

"It may also stand to reason that others are incapable of using your horn to grant wishes for themselves," said Bracken.

"But these wishes might not even have any restrictions like the Omega Star did," said Kendra. "If I was able to wish Warren and everyone else who died earlier back to life, there's no telling what else I might be capable of! And that's why I'm scared to keep this horn around. I don't feel like I'm ready to handle it."

"I understand," said the Fairy Queen. "As much as I would like to have it studied, if that is what you so desire, I will look into securing your horn in a very safe location. At least for the time being."

"Thank you," said Kendra, as she walked up to the Fairy Queen and gave her a hug.


	37. Settling Down

**Chapter 37: Settling Down**

Unable to anticipate whatever might transpire next, Kendra pushed open the front door to the house at Fablehaven and stepped into the foyer, accompanied by Bracken and Bright.

"They're back!" cried Mrs. Sorenson, as she entered the foyer from the living room, accompanied by Mr. Sorenson, Seth and Ingrid. At that same moment, Grandpa and Grandma came in through the hallway that led to the study, while Warren, Dale and Clover all walked down the stairs from the second floor.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Grandpa, as he proceeded to embrace Kendra in a fierce hug. "We can't even believe everything that just happened!"

"It was quite a story, huh?" asked Bright.

"Story?" asked Mr. Sorenson. "Heavens, no! We saw everything that happened on TV!"

Kendra let go of Grandpa and backed away from the crowd, stopping to catch her breath. "What do you mean?"

"Yeah," said Bracken. "I thought that Kendra wished so that no innocent people would remember any of what happened."

"It turns out that it seems to have worked for the rest of the world," replied Seth. "But everyone here is our family. They're associated with us, and are no less innocent than say Ingrid. So for that reason, your wish didn't have any affect on them."

"But everyone who was here still saw and remembered everything?" asked Kendra.

Dale nodded. "Sure did. And it was pretty terrifying, let me tell you."

"We all died a little inside when we saw Dominera step on Warren," said Grandma. "Dale literally fainted."

Dale nodded a second time, then placed his arm around Warren's neck and patted his brother's shoulder with his hand.

"But what we saw next was incredible," said Mrs. Sorenson. "You bested your horn back from Dominera and became a unicorn again. And you were able to grant wishes capable of stopping her and her pack members! And... you know rest, seeing as how you lived it."

"The last thing we saw," said Mrs. Sorenson, was seeing you and the rest of your group vanish before our eyes in front of the camera. And a minute later, the footage we were watching had changed completely. Instead of the feed that we had been watching that took place on an abandoned street, we were instead suddenly watching a news report about a Manhattan corner store that had been burglarized earlier today."

"We couldn't find any trace of Dominera's attack," said Mr. Sorenson. "Not on any other channel or online. It was like it had never happened. That all of us had just imagined it or something."

"And soon after that, everyone else suddenly showed up here," said Grandma. "We were all ecstatic to see Warren alive. Dale was still out, but he immediately sprung to life the moment he heard Warren's voice.

"I can't thank you enough," said Dale, nodding.

"What about Dominera?" asked Bright. "And the other dragons? Kendra's wishes sent them away, but we never got any closure."

"The pack is back in their lair," said Seth. "I searched for them using the Oculus, and sure enough, they were all there. I couldn't tell you what they were doing, or even so much as thinking, but they were there."

"Hopefully they stay there," said Ingrid. "Or at least, don't give us any more trouble."

"I think they know quite well what I'm capable of, considering what I did to them and Dominera," said Kendra. "And for that matter, where _is_ Dominera?"

"Right where you sent her," said Grandpa. "She's beneath us, in the dungeon."

"Now this I've got to see."

"Might as well not keep you waiting, then," said Warren, as he proceeded to walk towards the kitchen, prompting the rest of the family to follow him.

"We went down to the basement shortly after we got back," said Ingrid. "Voorsh and Slaggo were both surprised when we told them that they might have a new tenant down there."

Warren opened the door that led to the basement and made his way down the stairs while everyone followed close behind. Once Warren reached the bottom, he stopped and waited for Grandpa, who in turn pulled out a key and used it to unlock the door.

Everyone followed Grandpa and Warren into the entryway of the dungeon. Both Voorsh and Slaggo were standing nearby, their attention drawn towards everyone who was entering the dungeon.

"I suppose you're here to show off our latest arrival," said Slaggo, leering up towards Grandpa.

"She's really down here?" asked Kendra.

"Yes," replied Voorsh. "But we really don't appreciate having prisoners being locked away without our consent."

Kendra winced. "Uh... I'll try to be more careful in the future."

"Can we just let Kendra and the others see Dominera already?" asked Dale.

Slaggo huffed. "Fine. Come with us."

The two goblins led the group down a corridor that was lined with cell doors on both sides. At the end of the corridor, they made a left turn and soon stopped in front of one of the doors.

"Your _friend_ is in there," said Voorsh, as Kendra peered through the barred window of the door. On the other side of the door, Kendra could see Dominera sitting in one of the far corners of the room. Dominera, still in her Asylha form, was now back to being the size of a normal human.

"You!" snapped Dominera, as she stood up from her spot and charged towards the door. She clasped each of her hands around one of the window bars and attempted to pry them open, but was having no success.

"How do you like it in there?" asked Kendra, smiling in admiration.

"This isn't fair!" huffed Dominera. "I shouldn't be locked up in this _prison_! _I_ should be the one controlling all of _you_! I am a powerful dragon! Not some weak, puny human! I hate my human form! I should be the one in control here! It is my birthright!I demand that you change me back and release me this instant!"

"Let me think about that. NO!"

Dominera growled. "No one refuses orders from me. You hear that? **No one**! When I tell someone to do something... They don't hesitate. They don't talk back. They just _**do it**_."

"Not anymore," said Kendra. "I've stripped you of all your power, and there's nothing you can do..."

Kendra proceeded to clasp her own hands over Dominera's cold knuckles and made sure that her grip was quite firm. She then glared directly into Dominera's blue eyes, both of which contained a slight hint of purple. "... **so get used to it**!"

After a few seconds of squeezing Dominera's hands with her own, Kendra let go and backed away from the door.

"Kendra," said Dominera. "I have a question for you. You possess incredible power. It impressed even myself. Why have you not used it to conquer this world?"

Kendra looked down and began to take several deep breaths. "I don't want to rule the world."

Dominera growled. "What kind of **fool** are you? Having all this power and just letting it go to waste?!"

"Because no one being should control the world. "It belongs to everyone. Every creature. Every... thing. Not only that, but I don't even want the burden of being in change of the whole world. And if I _had_ to be in charge, I'd want everyone to be happy. I wouldn't want them dead, or living in fear of me."

"But why not?" asked Dominera, who sounded as though she didn't understand where Kendra was coming from.

"I just don't," replied Kendra. "I guess that's what separates people like me from people like you. And because you're not a dragon anymore, the word _people_ is fitting."

"You lousy human! If I were a dragon, I'd crush every last one of you right now!"

"You don't like being a human?" asked Kendra. "Would you prefer to be a toad? Or a snail? Or an oyster? It can be arranged."

Dominera growled.

"Come on, Kendra," said Grandpa. "We've seen enough for now. Let's go. Besides, you can visit Dominera later. I have a feeling she's probably going to be down here for a _very_ long time."

The group proceeded to turn around and walked away from Dominera's cell. As they turned around the corner, Dominera continued to yell obscenely towards the group.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?" roared a loud, gravely voice from everyone's rear, obviously one of Dominera's new neighbors. The reverberation that had echoed through the dungeon due to the shout, had startled everyone enough to make them flinch, stopping them all in their tracks.

"I think we're going to need a silencer charm for Dominera's door," said Slaggo.

"Agreed," said Grandma. "Even the other prisoners don't deserve _this_."

The family made their way back to the entrance of the dungeon and continued upstairs, closing the door behind Slaggo and Voorsh.

"Well, it looks like everything is back to the way it should be," said Mr. Sorenson, once everyone gone back upstairs to the kitchen.

"Yeah, _finally_!" said Seth, stretching his arms. "Now we can get back to... uh..."

"School?" asked Ingrid, sounding somewhat unenthusiastic.

"Tomorrow," said Mrs. Sorenson.

Seth glanced out the window, which faced the north side of the kitchen. The sun had almost set by this point, leaving little more than a small orange glow behind the trees to the west, in contrast to the rest of the darker sky.

"And it's almost bedtime, too," said Seth. "And after everything, I am beat."

Mr.s Sorenson sighed. "You know, you kids have been through a _lot_ these past few days. You deserve a rest. In honor of your efforts, I'm cancelling class tomorrow."

"Really?" asked Seth, whose face suddenly lit up.

"Me too," said Warren. "Tomorrow you kids can do whatever you want."

"All right!" exclaimed Kendra, earning looks from everyone, as she usually was one who always looked forward to school. "Hey, even _bookworms_ like to take it easy once in a while!"

"This calls for a celebration!" said Clover. "Anyone here up for cake and ice cream?"

"Sweet!" exclaimed Seth, as the kitchen phone began to ring.

"Hold on a moment," said Grandpa, as he walked over towards the counter that the ringing phone was situated upon. He proceeded to remove the phone from its cradle and held it up to his face. "Hello? Yes, this is Stanley Sorenson speaking."

A moment later, Grandpa's mouth dropped open in awe. "Oh my god. I... I get it."

"Stan, what's going on?" asked Grandma. "Who is that?"

"It's Chief Williams," replied Grandpa, covering the mouthpiece of the phone with his hand. "He knows about what happened."

"Oh no!" gasped Kendra. "Why does he remember all this even after my wish?"

"Probably for the same reason we do," replied Dale.

"You wished for everyone who was innocent to not remember the incident," said Bracken. "And if this is the _real_ Chief Williams... he may have been a victim, but he got caught up in this whole mess. He wasn't just an innocent bystander."

As Kendra absorbed Bracken's revelation, Chief William's voice could faintly be heard coming out of the phone's earpiece, too hard to properly interpret from a distance. Grandpa then held the phone back up to his head. "You want to meet up with me? At the police station? I don't know... Dominera told you about _Fablehaven_?"

"Oh dear," sighed Grandma.

"I understand," said Grandpa. "I'll look into it. See you later."

"Dad, what is this all about?" asked Mr. Sorenson, as Grandpa hung the phone up.

"Chief Williams wants to talk with some of us. I normally would never condone revealing our secret to anybody. But this man is involved with law enforcement, and these are extenuating circumstances, so I'm prepared to make a big exception. He deserves to know the truth."

"Look, I can just get my horn back from the Fairy Queen and wish for him to forget about all this," said Kendra.

"That might be a little tricky at this point," said Bracken.

"Well, I propose that we meet up with Chief Williams like he requested," said Grandpa. "Assuming this is the real deal, and not Qualvor in disguise, there won't be a whole lot that he can do to us."

"When does he want to meet us?" asked Seth.

"As soon as possible," replied Grandpa. "Grab your jackets."

Grandpa called for Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, Warren, Bracken, Bright and Clover to follow him through the front hall, and then outside into the front yard. From there, they walked over to the driveway, where the family's SUV was parked.

"Can't we just take the Translocator?" asked Ingrid, as Grandpa opened up the front passenger door and sat down inside.

"Remember who we're dealing with," said Warren, as he got into the driver's seat. "He barely knows anything about the magical world. We need to make our transportation as normal and low-key as possible. So there can't be any Translocator or dragon riding for this."

Bracken, Bright and Clover all disappeared, as Kendra, Seth and Ingrid all climbed into the back seats of the SUV. Warren then started the ignition, and the vehicle was soon cruising down the driveway that led to the front gate of Fablehaven.

After coming out of the forest and driving down the highway for a short time, the SUV had reached Crossroad Pass. Upon entering the rural town, Warren had soon parked the SUV in a lot outside the police station, where the passengers all got out of the vehicle.

"I'm really nervous," said Seth, who, like the other members of his group, had barely spoken throughout the entire ride. "Are we really going to go through with this?"

"This man has been through a lot," replied Grandpa. "And there's not a whole lot we can do to remedy the situation without relying on magic that I'd rather we didn't."

"You guys let me keep your secret when I found out by accident," said Ingrid. "As well as Mom and Dad. And Lance."

"I know," said Warren. "But this chief is a man of authority. Trying to provide an explanation for everything might not go over so smoothly with him."

The group walked around to the front of the police station and entered the building's front lobby, where they walked up to the reception desk.

"Oh, hello," said the policewoman who was seated behind the desk. Kendra was quick to recognize her as the same officer who had been there on the group's previous visit. She turned to face Warren. "I remember you. You're the guy who dropped off that key yesterday."

"Oh, yeah," said Warren, as he nodded slowly. "Did you figure out who it belonged to?"

"Excuse me," came a voice from one end of the room. Everyone turned their heads and saw that it was none other than Chief Williams.

The chief's presence had startled the group. Even though this was supposedly the real deal, the facade that Qualvor had employed earlier bore a perfect resemblance to the man standing before them.

"Chief Williams," said Grandpa. "Uh... hello."

"All of you, please come this way," said Chief Williams, as he led the group down the hallway. They entered a door that stood partway down the hall. They had entered what appeared to be a small meeting room consisting of little more than an oblong conference table with a few chairs in the center.

"Please take a seat," said Chief Williams, as he sat down at the head of the table. The others all sat down in response.

"Oh boy," said Grandpa. Where do we begin?"

"Before we start, I just want to say that everything we discuss in here will remain completely confidential. This room is not being bugged or monitored in any way. I promise. And, to get the ball rolling, I'll start."

"How did you get into this mess?" asked Warren.

"Yesterday, while I was on patrol, my squad car was forced off the road and pulled into the woods just outside of town. I know this must sound strange, but a mysterious figure forced me out of my car and made me drink this unusual milk. And that was when I saw the most amazing, yet at the same time terrifying sight I had ever seen in my life. Suddenly, there were these two enormous _dragons_ standing before me."

"What did they do?" asked Kendra.

"The white dragon, Dominera, used this magic of hers to transform the red one into a perfect duplicate of myself. Dominera told me to bring my wife, Patricia, to her, and that she would destroy me if I defied her. I was terrified. But I felt like I had no choice. Who was I supposed to tell? So I picked up my wife and brought her back to Dominera. This time, Dominera transformed a green dragon with three heads into a duplicate of my wife. God, this whole story must sound crazy to you folks."

"Not that much," said Seth, shaking his head.

"So you and your wife got impersonated," said Ingrid. "Then what?"

"Dominera then did something to Patrica and I. She said that my family and I had to leave Crossroad Pass until further notice, gave me a sack of money, and told us to not contact anyone. And for some reason, I gave in. I still had control over myself, but I couldn't bring myself to defy Dominera's command."

"That sounds like a form of mind control," said Warren.

"That doesn't make any sense," said Seth. "Why wouldn't Dominera just kill or capture you if she didn't want you around?"

"I don't think she wanted the burden of having to look after me," replied Chief Williams. "She wanted me alive in case there was a problem, but still out of the way. What was I supposed to do? It wasn't until less than an hour ago that Patricia and I realized that we had control over ourselves again. We returned to town and I when I got back to the station, I was lambasted for not showing up for work today. I couldn't explain what had happened, no way any of the other officers would've believed me."

"How did you end up calling us?" asked Grandpa.

"I was informed that yesterday, I had made a false arrest, and had brought two suspects into holding without filling out any paperwork. Normally, such an offense would've been grounds for losing my job, but when I returned, none of the staff here made a fuss."

"Probably more mind control had been at work, said Warren.

"Whatever it was, I'm thankful for it," said Chief Williams. "Anyway, it turned out that the fake me had impounded a car belonging to Mr. Stanley Sorenson. I knew that Dominera had to have been behind it. On top of that, the two suspects seemed to have vanished."

Grandpa sighed. "We can explain _everything_."


	38. Looking Forward

**Chapter 38: Looking Forward**

A considerable length of time had passed whilst the group from Fablehaven proceeded to speak with Chief Williams. Without going into an extensive amount of detail, they told Chief Williams about the world of magic and mythical creatures that co-existed alongside the mortal world. They also spoke about Fablehaven, and how it was one of the many preserves throughout the world that served as a sanctuary for magical creatures.

"You know something," said Chief Williams, "I think my mind has officially been blown. Part of me still doesn't want to believe that anything you just told me about could actually be true. However, after everything I've seen lately, I don''t see how it could possibly be false."

"We're not joking here," said Seth. "All of it is absolutely real."

"I'm not calling anyone here a liar. But, even after everything that Dominera put me through, it still seems hard to believe. And now with her out of the picture, everything feels like it's back to normal. Like it was just some bad dream that I had."

Grandpa sighed. "That wasn't a dream, if you can believe it."

"I see," said Chief Williams. "But, why have you even been telling me all this? This magnitude of information sounds like the kind of thing that I'd never want to tell to another living soul if I actually knew about it."

"I'm not entirely sure. However, I wouldn't feel right leaving you in the dark."

"Then do you mind telling me how you managed to stop Dominera?"

"We're not at liberty to say," said Warren. "We'd prefer to not rock the boat, so to speak."

"We probably shouldn't be telling you everything," said Ingrid.

"Besides, who's to say you won't run around telling everyone about us?" asked Seth.

"I swear to you," said Chief Williams, holding up one hand, while placing the other over his heart, "that I will not tell anyone about anything that has happened, or what we have discussed in this room. Except for my wife."

"Your wife?" asked Kendra.

"She got lassoed into this ordeal as well. But I assure you that she and I will keep all of this a secret between ourselves. Our two children won't even know. I'm prepared to lie to them just to keep all of this under wraps."

"That's quite all right," said Grandpa. "In fact, I feel kind of relieved right now."

"Why's that?" asked Ingrid.

"We just told a law official the truth about Fablehaven. And he's agreed to not tell anyone else about it. It feels like I don't have anything to hide anymore."

"You know what," said Chief Williams. "If you have ever have any more _unusual_ problems, don't be afraid to reach out to me. I realize that I know nothing about magical creatures and everything. But I'd be willing to provide assistance, without letting the rest of the force realizing what's up."

"Thank you," said Grandpa. "I'll be sure to keep in touch with you. Maybe we can do dinner some time."

"At your place?"

Grandpa winced. "Let's not get too carried away."

Chief Williams sighed. "I understand. "It's just... I wish I could see another magical creature again. Not another dragon, though. Maybe something a bit... _friendlier_."

Suddenly, Bracken, Bright and Clover all appeared next to the table, now in their full-sized bodies.

Chief Williams was _speechless_. He gazed at the three fairy angels, his mouth dropped open in awe. Grandpa, however, turned his head towards the three of them and glared.

"Satisfied?" asked Clover, smirking with admiration.

"My goodness," said Chief Williams. "You're fairies! You're glowing! You have such... magnificent wings!"

"Wait..." said Seth. "How can _you_ see the fairies?"

"This morning, I drank some of the milk that Dominera provided me with," said Chief Williams. "She said that I need to drink it every day in order to see herself, as well as other magical creatures. I still have one bottle leftover."

"Keep it," said Grandpa. "It will last a lot longer than normal milk. And maybe someday, in the near future, you might end up with some more."

"Thank you," said Chief Williams. "But I have so many questions. Not just about these fairies. But about everything."

"All in due time. I think you've been through a lot already. "But I'll keep in touch. I promise."

Chief Williams leaned forward from his seat and extended his hand. "Thank you for being honest with me."

"You're welcome," said Grandpa, as he accepted Chief Williams' outstretched hand and shook it.

* * *

By the time that the SUV came to a stop near the front of the house at Fablehaven, the sun had long since set. Exhausted from everything that had transpired that day, the family stumbled out of the vehicle and made their way back into the house, where they got ready for bed. Before much longer, both Kendra and Seth had retired to their beds, and the two siblings soon fell into a deep sleep.

The following morning, after eating a scrumptious breakfast consisting of homemade cinnamon waffles, Kendra slipped out of the house by herself. Walking along one of the pathways that crossed through the woods, Kendra soon found herself standing in front of the old manor. Although Kendra did not usually travel to the manor without a given cause, in the back of her mind, she knew that this was where she needed to come.

Kendra unlocked the front door and entered the spacious foyer, where she made her way up two flights of stairs to the third floor. From there, she passed through a set of double doors that faced towards the rear side of the manor. On the other side of the doors was the manor's spacious master bedroom, now well-furnished with a large Persian carpet, as well as a king-size canopy bed, the head of which stood against the wall to Kendra's left. Kendra walked towards the large set of glass double doors that overlooked the forest behind the house and pushed them open, then stepped out onto a balcony.

With the morning sun rising to her right in the east, Kendra gazed out at the wall of foliage that stood before her, made up of a blend of autumn leaves and evergreen branches.

Now that enough time had passed, Kendra was beginning to have her doubts about the decision that she had made yesterday. While she did not feel comfortable holding onto her horn, she had consequently given up an incredible power. She literally had the opportunity to wish for anything that she could ever want! And it was rightfully hers, too. Right now, Kendra felt more empty than she ever had in her entire life.

"Kendra!" came Seth's voice from off to one side. Startled, Kendra turned her head and saw Skyfrost, who was in the midst of hovering off to the side of the balcony. Seated on his backside were Seth and Ingrid.

"Whoa," said Kendra. "You scared me. What are you guys doing here, anyway?"

"We should be the ones asking you that," said Ingrid, as Skyfrost came down for a landing on the balcony next to Kendra.

"Look, I came to give myself some space," said Kendra, as Seth and Ingrid climbed down from Skyfrost's backside. "Now who are you trying to fool? Clearly you followed me here."

"Are you okay, Kendra?" asked Skyfrost.

"Why _should_ I be okay? I just _forfeited_ my horn!"

"We know that," said Ingrid. "And we kind of wanted to talk to you about that."

"Why?"

"Are you kidding?" asked Seth. "That horn could fix everything! I get that you don't want to get involved with anything that might be too controversial, but there are _some_ things that you could've done easily that wouldn't hurt anybody."

"You'd be helping people, not hurting them," said Ingrid.

"I know. And it's been on my mind all morning."

"Why can't you get your horn back?" asked Skyfrost. "Is something stopping you?"

Kendra stopped to think for a moment. Although she had entrusted her horn to the Fairy Queen for safekeeping, there was technically nothing she could think of that was preventing her from reclaiming it.

"I guess there isn't anything that's actually stopping me," said Kendra. "I'll just tell the Fairy Queen that I want it back. Simple as that. Bracken!"

There was a flash of white light, and Bracken suddenly materialized in front of Kendra. He bore a worried look on his face.

"Kendra," said Bracken, looking down at the fairykind girl, whose shoulder he placed a hand upon. "What is it?"

"Bracken, I need you to bring me back my horn," said Kendra.

"What?"

"Please. I gave it up prematurely. I'm asking to have it back. Just for a little while."

"Kendra, I can't exactly do that."

Kendra began to experience the feeling of her heart sinking down into her stomach.

"Why not?" exclaimed Seth. "It's _her_ horn. Just head over to the Fairy Kingdom, pick it up and bring it back here."

Bracken shook his head. "I'm afraid it doesn't work that way."

"What are you talking about?" asked Ingrid.

"My mother agreed with Kendra to store her horn in a very safe place. It's in a special vault. One that's been magically linked to Kendra's soul."

"So what? asked Skyfrost. "Just open the vault."

"We... can't," said Bracken, shaking his head. "It's a magical lock. After the trouble we had with Oblivion and the instruments of eternal power, we've taken measures to increase our security. The vault can only be opened by Queen Kendra."

Kendra's jaw dropped. "Did you just call me a _queen_?"

"No. You haven't changed or anything. But in order to open the vault, you would need to bear the title of Fairy Queen."

"That's so stupid!" exclaimed Ingrid. "Why does Kendra need to be a _queen_ just to open some door?"

"We applied powerful magic to securely seal the vault. In order to ensure that it would not be opened wrongly, it had to be made so that only Kendra herself could open it. And only when she is ready to accept the responsibility. Consequently, Kendra herself needs to be of a greater status than she is right now."

"So, unless Kendra becomes the Fairy Queen, we can never open the vault?" asked Seth. "What if there's an emergency, or something awful happens to Kendra?"

"There is a failsafe that will enable a member of the royal fairy family to open the vault prematurely should one of those situations arise," said Bracken. "We're not _that_ stupid. But for the moment, it is literally impossible for anyone to breach the vault."

"No," said Ingrid. "There's got to be a way! What if one of you warped yourself in, using the Translocator or something?"

"No good," said Bracken, shaking his head. "The protection is simply that good. Almost too good."

"It's not the end of the world, is it?" asked Skyfrost. "I mean, it's not like there's anything bad that needs to be resolved right now."

Ingrid sighed. "Kendra. Your horn can do anything. It brought Warren, along with everyone else who got killed, back to life. It was as though they had never... left-"

Unable to continue speaking, Ingrid began to sob. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Ingrid," said Kendra. "I'm sorry. I realize now the potential that my horn has. But I was scared. Scared I might majorly screw everything up!"

"Ingrid could've had her parents back," said Skyfrost. "I could've had mine back, too."

"I get it," said Kendra. "I could've brought a lot of folks back to life. Lena. Coulter. Vanessa. But I was so desperate to distance myself from my horn's uncontrollable power, I didn't even think of it while I still had possession of it."

"There were a lot of things you could have fixed," said Seth.

"Like what?" asked Kendra. "Giving you your own private amusement park?"

"No. But hold onto that idea. I meant things like Mom's asthma. You could've wished for it to go away. Same with my allergy to cucumbers. Or Warren's allergies to certain nuts. Or what about..."

" **Okay!** " shouted Bracken, now speaking in a booming voice. "This really isn't helping!"

Bracken then placed a hand upon Kendra's shoulder. "Look, I know how upset you all are," he said, now speaking at a normal volume. "My father is still recovering. It's been a while, but there have been subtle signs of improvement."

"Well, that's great for you," moaned Ingrid, wiping away her tears.

"What I'm saying is, Kendra's horn isn't gone forever," said Bracken. "One day Kendra _will_ be ready to reclaim her horn. But berating Kendra over what she neglected to do while she _did_ have the horn isn't going to help. What happened in regard to everyone else isn't even her fault."

Skyfrost let out a deep breath. "You're right, Bracken. Even though our true parents are gone, Firesquall and I are already more than thankful for the family we now have here at Fablehaven."

Ingrid continued to cry. "Coming to Fablehaven may have been the best thing that's ever happened to me. But at the same time, I miss my parents so much. The opportunity for them to actually come back... It was right there! And I missed it."

"Bracken," said Seth. "If Kendra were to become the Fairy Queen today, would she technically be able to open the vault?"

Bracken paused for a moment and rubbed his forehead. "In theory, yes. But Kendra would have to willingly accept the crown, and I don't believe that my mother..."

"No!" blurted Kendra. "I'm not ready for that! I don't want to become the Fairy Queen. I don't feel ready. I realize that all of you are anxious for me to reclaim my horn. But that's precisely the thing. It's _my_ horn! If it weren't for me, this horn wouldn't even _exist_."

Ingrid wiped away the last of her tears. Without saying anything, Ingrid approached Kendra and threw her arms around her. "Kendra. I'm sorry. I shouldn't blame you for any of this. I don't care whether you're fairykind, a unicorn, or whatever. You're my sister. And I love you. I love my entire family here at Fablehaven."

Without saying a word, Seth embraced himself in a hug with Kendra and Ingrid, along with Bracken. Skyfrost went ahead and wrapped his wings around the entire group.

"Come on," said Kendra. "Let's go back home with the others. I'd like to spend some time with my family."

Kendra, Seth, Ingrid and Bracken all walked back through the woods towards the main house, while Skyfrost followed overhead. After returning home, they opted to take it easy throughout the day. Mrs. Sorenson and Warren had both cancelled their lessons for the next week, just so that everyone could take a well-deserved break.

Once dinner time had rolled around, the family made their way out into the backyard, where several tables had been set up. In addition to the Sorenson household, the dragons were also there, along with many other guests including Newel and Doren, Hugo, Mendigo, Stargleam, Windshear, Air Flair, Keenheart, the reindeer, numerous fairies and fairy angels, Tanu, the Larsens and more.

The family greeted their many guests, and everyone feasted themselves to a wonderful buffet, consisting of foods such as a variety of soups, salads, roast chicken, pastas, roast beef, pizza, baked fish, several varieties of potatoes, pilaf, steamed vegetables and more.

Once everyone was finished eating, Grandpa tapped his wine glass with a spoon, garnering the attention of everyone who was at the dinner.

"Thank you," said Grandpa, who was now being eyed by everyone in the room. "Tonight we are here not only to honor the valiant Knights of the Dawn. For we have another special surprise. Dragons, it's time."

"Okay," said Raxtus, as he reached over and picked up Vanessa, then set her down on top of the table that the dragon family was standing in front of.

The entire crowd began to sing _Happy Birthday._ As the singing commenced, a court of fairies began flying around in circles on the table in front of where Vanessa was standing. A large rectangular cake, coated entirely with purple frosting and pink trim, suddenly materialized on the table where the fairies had been flying. Consisting of only one layer, the cake had a single, alit candle on one side of the cake, right in front of Vanessa.

Vanessa stared at the cake that had appeared before her. She then looked around and saw that everyone else was staring at her.

"Go on, Vanessa," said Geminus. "Blow out the candle."

"And make a wish," said Raxtus. "They work for Kendra, at least."

"MAAA!" screamed Vanessa. "MAAA!"

"Vanessa, don't be scared!" cried Firesquall. "Blow out the candle!"

"Yeah, like this!" said Skyfrost, as he mouthed a blowing motion and let out a soft breath.

Vanessa watched as her brothers both pointed at the burning candle with their wings. She positioned her face in front of the candle and opened her mouth, but no breath came out from it. Instead, Vanessa grabbed the candle and plucked it out of the cake.

"Whoa..." said Grandma, as Vanessa swooshed the candle around in the air. She then placed her other claw against the flame, extinguishing it into a streak of smoke.

"WHOO!" cheered Warren, clapping his hands. Others members of the group joined in on the cheering as well.

"That's _one_ way of blowing out a candle," said Mr. Sorenson.

"Thank god this wasn't a human child trying that," said Mrs. Sorenson.

Afterwards, the cake had been cut up, and everyone was served a slice. Afterwards everyone got up from their spot and began mingling with one another.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Warren, as he walked over towards Kendra, holding a plate with a slice of cake on it in one hand. Kendra figured that this slice wasn't Warren's first.

"What is it?" asked Kendra.

"It may be Vanessa's birthday, but I have something for you."

"It's not more cake, is it?"

Warren chuckled, as he set his plate down on a nearby table. "No. Kendra, I wanted to thank you for bringing me back. So I'm giving you my favor from the Fairy Queen."

"You're what?" asked Kendra, who couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I mean it. You used up your favor to become a unicorn again. And I don't know when you'll become Queen yourself. Anyway, Clover spoke to the Fairy Queen about it earlier, and the Fairy Queen agreed. So, congratulations, Kendra. It's yours now. As long as you can't access your horn, I figured why not?"

"Warren... Thank you. I don't know what to say."

"Whatever you do with it, enjoy yourself," said Warren, as he gave Kendra a hug.

Just after Warren walked away from Kendra, Bracken approached her. Kendra suddenly began to experience a tingling feeling inside herself. But she was unable to fathom why.

"You having a good time, Kendra?" asked Bracken.

"I sure am!" exclaimed Kendra. "Did you hear what Warren just did?"

"I'm aware of it," said Bracken. "Now, it's not as impressive, but I'd like to give you something, too. You mind coming with me?"

"Sure," said Kendra, as she followed Bracken around the side of house.

"It's hard to believe that Vanessa is already one year old," said Bracken.

"I know. She was born very quickly for a dragon. But we think that's probably due to her being born a fairy dragon."

Soon Bracken and Kendra arrived at the front porch of the house. Bracken sat down on the porch swing and gestured for Kendra to sit beside him, so she complied.

"You said you wanted to give me something?" asked Kendra.

Without saying anything, Bracken puckered his lips and planted them upon Kendra's. Kendra experienced a feeling of total bliss as she felt energy flowing out of Bracken's lips, into her own, which continued to course throughout the rest of her body.

"Bracken," said Kendra, who still felt tingly even after backing her head away from her boyfriend. "I feel weird."

"Kendra, what's wrong?" asked Bracken.

Before she could respond, Kendra body began to rapidly transmogrify itself into her unicorn form. Due to her weight, the chains of the swing popped out of the porch ceiling that they had been bolted to, causing the seat to come crashing down to the floor with Kendra and Bracken still on it.

"BRACKEN!" screamed Kendra, still in a sitting position. "What happened? Why am I a unicorn again? What did you do?"

"I don't know!" exclaimed Bracken. "Look at you!"

"What are you talking about?"

Bracken waved his hand and conjured up a mirror, which he levitated in front of Kendra's face. Kendra could see that she was indeed in her unicorn form once again. However, she did not bear a horn on her forehead.

"My horn!" cried Kendra, as she got up onto her four hooved legs. She stepped away from the broken swing, which now sat on the floor of the porch. "Look at this mess!"

"Calm down," said Bracken softly, as he waved his hands around. Colorful sparkles flew out of Bracken's fingertips and onto the swing. The swing rose up into the air, while its chains reconnected themselves back into the sockets in the ceiling. From what Kendra could tell, it looked as though the swing had never been broken in the first place.

"That's amazing!" said Kendra. "But, how did I even become a unicorn? Or whatever a hornless unicorn is called. I don't know. Just change me back to normal, please."

Bracken hesitated for a moment. He then closed his eyes and proceeded to transform into his own unicorn form.

"What are you doing?" asked Kendra.

"Kendra, being a unicorn is perfectly natural for you," said Bracken, as he walked off the porch and onto the front lawn. "There's nothing to worry about. If anything, you should learn to accept it."

"Really?" asked Kendra, as she walked over to Bracken's side.

"Absolutely."

"Okay. But is that any reason to just up and transform me into a unicorn?"

Bracken shook his head. "It wasn't on purpose. Remember. You already _are_ a unicorn, even if you don't have full control over your power. Your body was just reacting to my power when we kissed. If anything, you assuming your unicorn form was completely natural."

"I think I get it now," said Kendra. "Thank you."

"I'm glad you're happy," said Bracken. "I'll turn you back into a human now."

"No, wait!" cried Kendra. "Let me stay a unicorn a little while longer."

"You mean it?" asked Bracken.

"I might as well start getting used to it," said Kendra as she proceeded to walk into the woods with Bracken by her side.

"Kendra, be you a human or a unicorn, I love you just the way you are."

Kendra blushed. "Thank you, Bracken. "But, even when I do mature some more, how will I know if I'd be able to control my horn?"

"The vault confining your horn may be impenetrable, but we're still able to analyze your horn within it from outside. We're hoping that by studying your horn, you can later reclaim it and have a better understanding of how to control it."

Kendra was beginning to undergo a feeling of true bliss. "Bracken, you have no idea how happy I am right now. With Dominera out of the picture, and with my horn in safekeeping, do you think we'll ever experience any more hardships?"

Bracken shook his head. "Kendra, I think that for now, all of us can finally live in peace."

 **The End**


	39. Final Words

**A/N: I originally published much of what is in this tailpiece at the end of "Exile of the Royal Disciple", I later deleted it from that story and have since relocated it here.**

Well, here it is. This is officially the end of the series. I hate to admit it, but I am officially done. For those of you who actually read through the entire the entire 10-story saga, I hope that you all had a great time reading through it!

It's been over eight years since I started writing "The Wrath of Navarog" back in July 2010. There were a few hiatuses along the way, but now I can at last rest easy, for the series has finally drawn to a close.

I hope you're not too disappointed that the series has concluded. I did what I could to tie up any loose ends while still giving readers a future to think about. I feel that now is a good time to quit, not only due to reaching a conclusion, but Dragonwatch now exists, and readership for this series has dropped significantly. After going on for so long, people who started reading this series when it was new have likely lost interest before I could finish it. Also, the sheer length of this series (344 chapters with over one million words between them) may just seem a little too daunting to many readers. If this series gets forgotten over time, so be it.

I originally started writing after reading through the five Fablehaven books, just because I enjoyed the series so much and desperately wished that there could be more to the world I had immersed myself in. Back in 2010, Brandon Mull had stated that while he was interested in possibly writing more Fablehaven stories, he had no ideas at the time, and moved on to other things. However, Mull has since gotten around to writing Dragonwatch, providing the world with an official continuation to the first five books.

Yes, Dragonwatch has come out and completely contradicts everything that I've written. All the characters, locales and other ideas I've come up with are now completely irrelevant. Am I upset? Heavens no! I'm quite looking forward to it! It'll no doubt be full of incredible ideas I never could have even dreamed about! After all, Brandon Mull created the Fablehaven universe in the first place. It's his baby. My writings, just like any other fanfiction, are apocrypha.

At the end of the day, the truth of the matter is that my story is over, I have nothing left that I wish to tell. I don't have any further plans for this series. So for now, my work here is done. There are plenty of other talented authors on this site. While it's entirely subjective as to which of their stories will appeal to you, check them out. There are plenty out there already, and there will certainly be more to come.

 **Questions and Answers**

 **Q:** Why did you decide to make Seth an angel?

 **A:** It was to symbolize that Seth's heart had ultimately grown stronger than any level of darkness that Murdred could inflict upon him. I wanted show that underneath Seth's shadow charmer exterior, there was a good soul struggling to break free.

 **Q:** Why are Seth and Ingrid in love? They're brother and sister!

 **A:** They are foster siblings. Although they are legally considered to be brother and sister, there is no blood relation between them. As such, they do not find find their attraction to each other to be inappropriate.

With that said, it's trivia time!

*"The Wrath of Navarog" was originally set to be a stand-alone story with no continuation. However, as I was nearing completion of it, I realized that I was enjoying it a whole lot, so I decided to write a follow-up, and things kind of just continued on from there.

*It's also kind of an odd story in some regards. Seth is out-of character for much of it (justified, of course) and actually gets very little to do. There was also the penultimate segment involving the futuristic Silicon Station, which is quite jarring compared to the fantasy aspects found throughout the rest of the series. Looking back, I regret the whole Silicon Station ordeal, which is why I never brought it up again and normalized Jet, whom I retired after the second story. Two canon characters are also killed off, again because I didn't yet have a sequel in the works and wanted to leave an impact as to just how much of a threat Navarog was.

*The four Fablehaven sequels share the same naming convention (Fablehaven: Noun of the Noun). I didn't follow this rule with "The Wrath of Navarog", but I did with the rest of the series. Dragonwatch appears to be following this trend.

*In Chapter 25 of "The Wrath of Navarog", there is a puzzle which requires eight chess pieces to be set upon specific squares. These positions are actually a solution to a puzzle known as the "Eight Queens Problem", even though in the story not all of the used pieces are queens.

*There were two entry codes in Chapter 27: 2726366 and 6855. On a telephone keypad, these numbers can actually spell out two words: BRANDON and MULL.

*When I came up with Bright's name, I didn't immediately put two and two together and realize that both her name and Bracken's both start with the letters B and R. When I needed names for the other sisters, I stuck with the same naming convention.

*Tritanoss' name is derived from Triton, Titan and boss.

*I don't know if I ever got around to mentioning this, but Hespera (the witch) was not named for the hydra at Wyrmroost. The hydra was named after the witch. My computer crashed roughly halfway through writing "Contradiction of the Malevolent Heart", so several chapters had to be rewritten rather hastily.

*The location of Hespera's lair is hidden in a real place in the New York subway system. Seth and his friends get on at Bowling Green station on the Lexington Avenue line and go five stops north to Spring Street. North of Spring Street is the lair.

*I later decided that Warren becoming a partial fairy was quite strange, so I rectified that at the end of "Destiny of the Dark Destroyer".

*In Destiny of the Dark Destroyer, the group travels back to 1689, when the Inverted Tower is being built. According to the first book, Fablehaven was established "over 300 years ago" and was published in 2006. According to the Caretaker's Guide to Fablehaven, the preserve was established in 1711. Not that I had any idea about this, but the dates don't quite add up. Going by this logic, this means that the Inverted Tower was being built twenty-two years before the preserve itself was established if my dates are to be believed.

*Although there are references to technology and pop culture, I tried to avoid mentioning actual years in an attempt to keep the stories feeling timeless.

*Murdred is the embodiment of all the worst human traits and ideals I could think of. I felt that a truly wicked villain isn't born evil, but self-made.

*Murdred's own name took a while to settle upon. An earlier choice was Lordred, as it could be interpreted as "Lord Dread" and rhymed with Mordred. However, I felt that it sounded too similar to "Lord Zedd" (the Power Rangers villain). I eventually settled on Murdred, which still alluded to Mordred and incorporated the words "Murdred" and "Dread". Damien, his real name, is taken from the character from the film "The Omen".

*Sarah Kelly seemed too good to be true. Another teenage shadow charmer who doted on Seth. I wanted her to also have an "S" name. Also, her initials were SK, in contrast to Kendra's initials, KS.

*I created Ingrid because I felt that the story needed another strong female human. It didn't help that Navarog killed Elise and Vanessa. At the same time, I wanted another character close in age to Kendra and Seth. The problem with Lance and David was that it felt strange to just uproot kids from their happy lives away from Fablehaven to go on more adventures. Ingrid being a female also allowed me to give Seth a suitable love interest that wasn't another fairy or something.

*I left Ingrid's background fairly ambiguous. Her original last name is never given, nor is her hometown. She was also an orphan so that it would be easier to integrate her into the main cast living at Fablehaven.

*While Murdred represented the worst aspects of men, Nemenemi did so for women. However, she didn't last long because it was hard to really do anything with her since she couldn't get along with Murdred and was little more than a beacon of darkness.

*Warren celebrates his birthday in May. In "Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary", he mentions he's a Scorpio. Whoops! To be fair, I only did this because I forgot about the Scorpio remark at the time. Also, Kendra's birthday is in October and Seth was "barely thirteen" in December in "Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary", so I did this to space the birthdays out a bit more.

*Murdred had six mates, akin to King Henry VII, who had six wives.

*"Loyalty of the Ultimate Angel" is quite long. Looking back, I probably could have omitted the entire France portion, and just had the Reflector been the treasure in the Dungeon of Despair.

*The Singing Sisters point out that Murdred's birthday is January 13th, 1313. While the thirteen motif couldn't be more obvious, there's a secret that the Sisters did not point out. After deciding upon that day, I looked at a calendar for January 1313. Turns out that the thirteenth of January fell on a Friday that year.

*Kendra's middle name is never mentioned throughout the five books, even though we learn the middle names of Seth and both parents. I gave Kendra the middle name May because I wanted her to have an "M" name like her mother Marla. May is derived from Maia, the goddess of spring. It also rhymes with fae, so I felt it went well with Kendra. In Dragonwatch, we learned that Kendra's official middle name is "Marie". Hey, I was close!

If you have any further questions, please feel free to send me a PM or a review. This being my final chapter, I am unable to respond to more guest reviews from this point.


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